PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - I M Balfour-Lynn
AU  - R C Tasker
TI  - At the coalface--medical ethics in practice. Futility and death in paediatric medical intensive care.
AID  - 10.1136/jme.22.5.279
DP  - 1996 Oct 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 279--281
VI  - 22
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/22/5/279.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/22/5/279.full
SO  - J Med Ethics1996 Oct 01; 22
AB  - 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.