ABSTRACT
Provision of nutrition and hydration in palliative care evokes strong emotions to patients, families, and clinicians. Patients may view the use of enteral or parenteral supplementation as symbolic of their ability to survive their illness, or possibly gain extra time as they near death. Families may view provision of fluids or food as the most basic act of caring, and as such may feel it is necessary to provide these substances to their dying family member. 1 Clinicians view these modalities as tools to provide patients with comfort and improved quality of life. While use of these treatments can improve quality of life for selected patients, there are few data to support the use of enteral or parenteral therapies in most dying patients.
