| Autor: |
Bernadine Dao, Julian Savulescu, Jacky Y. Suen, John F. Fraser, Dominic J. C. Wilkinson |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2021 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
BMC Medical Ethics, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
1472-6939 |
| DOI: |
10.1186/s12910-021-00638-y |
| Popis: |
Abstract Background ECMO is a particularly scarce resource during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its allocation involves ethical considerations that may be different to usual times. There is limited pre-pandemic literature on the ethical factors that ECMO physicians consider during ECMO allocation. During the pandemic, there has been relatively little professional guidance specifically relating to ethics and ECMO allocation; although there has been active ethical debate about allocation of other critical care resources. We report the results of a small international exploratory survey of ECMO clinicians’ views on different patient factors in ECMO decision-making prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then outline current ethical decision procedures and recommendations for rationing life-sustaining treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examine the extent to which current guidelines for ECMO allocation (and reported practice) adhere to these ethical guidelines and recommendations. Methods An online survey was performed with responses recorded between mid May and mid August 2020. Participants (n = 48) were sourced from the ECMOCard study group—an international group of experts (n = 120) taking part in a prospective international study of ECMO and intensive care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey compared the extent to which certain ethical factors involved in ECMO resource allocation were considered prior to and during the pandemic. Results When initiating ECMO during the pandemic, compared to usual times, participants reported giving more ethical weight to the benefit of ECMO to other patients not yet admitted as opposed to those already receiving ECMO, (p |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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