[Ethical boundary decisions in intensive care medicine].

Inn Med (Heidelb)

Zentrum für Intensivmedizin, Kantonsspital Winterthur, Brauerstrasse 15, 8401, Winterthur, Schweiz.

Published: October 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Ethical decision-making is crucial in intensive care and emergency medicine, where clinicians often make quick, high-stakes choices under pressure and with limited information.
  • Key principles like patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice guide these decisions, alongside tools like advanced directives and quality of life assessments.
  • A holistic, multidisciplinary approach is needed, especially for older patients and those with complex health issues, while remaining adaptable in the face of resource limitations and integrating human judgment with technological advancements.

Article Abstract

Background: Ethical decision-making is a cornerstone of intensive care and emergency medicine. In acute scenarios, clinicians often face rapid, high-stakes decisions concerning life and death, made more challenging by time constraints and incomplete information. These decisions are further complicated by economic constraints, limited resources, and evolving technological capabilities.

Question: What decision-making aids and factors can be employed in ethical borderline cases within intensive care medicine?

Results: Fundamental ethical principles such as patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice form the basis for medical treatment decisions. Evaluating the patient's will through advanced directives or proxy consensus is crucial, although advanced directives can be ambiguous. Assessing quality of life is increasingly important, with instruments such as the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) being utilized. For older patients, a holistic approach is recommended, focusing on overall health rather than chronological age. In patients with advanced underlying diseases, a multidisciplinary dialogue is essential.

Discussion: Decision-making in intensive care medicine requires careful consideration of medical, ethical, and individual factors. Despite advances in artificial intelligence and prognostic models, human judgment remains crucial. During periods of resource scarcity, ethically sound triage protocols are required. The challenge lies in applying these principles and factors in clinical practice while respecting the individuality of each patient.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11452514PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00108-024-01781-5DOI Listing

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