Cargando…

Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?

The issue of limiting life-sustaining treatments for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is complex. The ethical principles applied by ICU staff when making treatment-limitation decisions must comply with the law of their country. Until 2011, the law in Taiwan prohibited the withdrawal of mechanical...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Toffart, Anne-Claire, Timsit, Jean-François
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4056103/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24053905
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/cc13014
_version_ 1782320784765616128
author Toffart, Anne-Claire
Timsit, Jean-François
author_facet Toffart, Anne-Claire
Timsit, Jean-François
author_sort Toffart, Anne-Claire
collection PubMed
description The issue of limiting life-sustaining treatments for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is complex. The ethical principles applied by ICU staff when making treatment-limitation decisions must comply with the law of their country. Until 2011, the law in Taiwan prohibited the withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Consequently, patients with severe underlying diseases could receive prolonged mechanical ventilation. In a study conducted by Shih and colleagues in patients with cancer in Taiwan, continuous mechanical ventilation for more than 21 days was associated with poor outcomes, particularly in the subgroups of patients with metastases, lung cancer, or liver cancer. These results highlight the need for appropriate legislation regarding the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments in patients, especially those for whom no effective cancer treatments are available.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4056103
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-40561032014-09-20 Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile? Toffart, Anne-Claire Timsit, Jean-François Crit Care Commentary The issue of limiting life-sustaining treatments for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is complex. The ethical principles applied by ICU staff when making treatment-limitation decisions must comply with the law of their country. Until 2011, the law in Taiwan prohibited the withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Consequently, patients with severe underlying diseases could receive prolonged mechanical ventilation. In a study conducted by Shih and colleagues in patients with cancer in Taiwan, continuous mechanical ventilation for more than 21 days was associated with poor outcomes, particularly in the subgroups of patients with metastases, lung cancer, or liver cancer. These results highlight the need for appropriate legislation regarding the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments in patients, especially those for whom no effective cancer treatments are available. BioMed Central 2013 2013-09-20 /pmc/articles/PMC4056103/ /pubmed/24053905 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/cc13014 Text en Copyright © 2013 BioMed Central Ltd.
spellingShingle Commentary
Toffart, Anne-Claire
Timsit, Jean-François
Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title_full Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title_fullStr Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title_full_unstemmed Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title_short Is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
title_sort is prolonged mechanical ventilation of cancer patients futile?
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4056103/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24053905
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/cc13014
work_keys_str_mv AT toffartanneclaire isprolongedmechanicalventilationofcancerpatientsfutile
AT timsitjeanfrancois isprolongedmechanicalventilationofcancerpatientsfutile