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Compelling Ethical Challenges in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine pp 109–118Cite as

Limiting Life-Sustaining Therapies

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Abstract

In many critically ill patients, it is uncertain whether the chance of survival and recovery justifies the suffering that is associated with (prolonged) life support. This chapter discusses the circumstances when limiting life-sustaining therapies may be permissible, advisable, or even imperative. Differences between withholding and withdrawing are commented on as well as the role of intensity- or time-limited treatment trials. We discuss strategies to make careful decisions on limiting life-sustaining therapies and suggest how withdrawal of life support can be implemented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division Vital Functions, Intensive Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Diederik van Dijk

  2. Intensive Care Unit, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Exeter, UK

    Carole Boulanger

  3. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Gavin Joynt

  4. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Tettnang Hospital at Medizin Campus Bodensee, Tettnang, Germany

    Andrej Michalsen

  5. Department of Pulmonology, Sleep Medicine and Critical Care, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Jan Bakker

  6. Department of Intensive Care (Adults), Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Jan Bakker

Authors
  1. Diederik van Dijk
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  2. Carole Boulanger
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  3. Gavin Joynt
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  4. Andrej Michalsen
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  5. Jan Bakker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diederik van Dijk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Tettnang Hospital, Medizin Campus Bodensee, Tettnang, Germany

    Andrej Michalsen

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Nicholas Sadovnikoff

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van Dijk, D., Boulanger, C., Joynt, G., Michalsen, A., Bakker, J. (2020). Limiting Life-Sustaining Therapies. In: Michalsen, A., Sadovnikoff, N. (eds) Compelling Ethical Challenges in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43127-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43127-3_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43126-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43127-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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