At the coalface--medical ethics in practice. Futility and death in paediatric medical intensive care
We have conducted a retrospective study of deaths on a paediatric medical intensive care unit over a two-year period and reviewed similar series from outside the UK. There were 89 deaths out of 651 admission (13.7% mortality). In almost two-thirds of the cases death occurred with a decision to limit...
| Autores principales: | ; |
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| Tipo de documento: | Electrónico Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publicado: |
BMJ Publ.
1996
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| En: |
Journal of medical ethics
Año: 1996, Volumen: 22, Número: 5, Páginas: 279-281 |
| Acceso en línea: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Sumario: | We have conducted a retrospective study of deaths on a paediatric medical intensive care unit over a two-year period and reviewed similar series from outside the UK. There were 89 deaths out of 651 admission (13.7% mortality). In almost two-thirds of the cases death occurred with a decision to limit medical treatment or withdraw mechanical ventilation, implying that additional or further therapy was considered futile. We highlight this as a crucially important issue in the practice of intensive care. More comprehensive studies are needed to help clinicians derive consensus on what constitutes a futile intervention, and therefore when such an intervention should be withheld. This will help families and society better understand the limitations of intensive care. |
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| ISSN: | 1473-4257 |
| Obras secundarias: | Enthalten in: Journal of medical ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1136/jme.22.5.279 |