End-of-life care in a pediatric intensive care unit: The impact of the development of a palliative care unit

Sara Bobillo-Perez, Susana Segura, Monica Girona-Alarcon, Aida Felipe, Monica Balaguer, Lluisa Hernandez-Platero, Anna Sole-Ribalta, Carmina Guitart, Iolanda Jordan, Francisco Jose Cambra

Producció científica: Article en revista indexadaArticleAvaluat per experts

17 Cites (Scopus)

Resum

Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe how end-of-life care is managed when life-support limitation is decided in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and to analyze the influence of the further development of the Palliative Care Unit. Methods: A 15-year retrospective study of children who died after life-support limitation was initiated in a pediatric intensive care unit. Patients were divided into two groups, pre- and post-palliative care unit development. Epidemiological and clinical data, the decision-making process, and the approach were analyzed. Data was obtained from patient medical records. Results: One hundred seventy-five patients were included. The main reason for admission was respiratory failure (86/175). A previous pathology was present in 152 patients (61/152 were neurological issues). The medical team and family participated together in the decision-making in 145 cases (82.8%). The family made the request in 10 cases (9 vs. 1, p = 0.019). Withdrawal was the main life-support limitation (113/175), followed by withholding life-sustaining treatments (37/175). Withdrawal was more frequent in the post-palliative group (57.4% vs. 74.3%, p = 0.031). In absolute numbers, respiratory support was the main type of support withdrawn. Conclusions: The main cause of life-support limitation was the unfavourable evolution of the underlying pathology. Families were involved in the decision-making process in a high percentage of the cases. The development of the Palliative Care Unit changed life-support limitation in our unit, with differences detected in the type of patient and in the strategy used. Increased confidence among intensivists when providing end-of-life care, and the availability of a Palliative Care Unit may contribute to improvements in the quality of end-of-life care.

Idioma originalAnglès
Número d’article74
RevistaBMC Palliative Care
Volum19
Número1
DOIs
Estat de la publicacióPublicada - 28 de maig 2020
Publicat externament

Fingerprint

Navegar pels temes de recerca de 'End-of-life care in a pediatric intensive care unit: The impact of the development of a palliative care unit'. Junts formen un fingerprint únic.

Com citar-ho