Objective: Describe the frequency and characteristics of PICU patients who undergo a process of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (LTSV), between 2004 y 2014.
Patients and method: A retrospective, observational descriptive study, using two documents for quality assessment in the PICU of Hospital Roberto del Río: 1) daily individual patient tracking log and 2) daily record of quality indicators, including LTSV, both updated daily at the morning visit. All PICU patients with an ethical dilemma during their PICU stay in which a LTSV was proposed were included. We men tion patients rejected for admission in the ICU and those who died in basic units of the hospital with LTSV.
Results: In 118 patients of 7821 PICU admissions (1,5%) we determined a LTSV: ONR (Non Resuscitation Order) for all of them, ONI (Non Innovation Order) in 78,8%, withdrawal of some therapeutics in 14,4% and withdrawal of active mechanical ventilation in 6,8%. The basic diagnosis was 23,7% for each neurologic and oncologic diseases. The predominant pathophysiologic condition leading to a LTSV was severe chronic neurologic damage (39%). The length of stay was threefold the mean PICU stay, with a large variability due to expectable individual factors when ethic decisions are involved.
Conclusion: LTSV is feasible when the team is involved and this perspective is part of daily clinical analysis. The wide individual variability in the LTSV process is expectable in ethical decisions.