PMID: 9421053Jan 1, 1997Paper

Ethical aspects of prehospital CPR

Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum
M Mohr, D Kettler

Abstract

Obvious reasons to withhold CPR are signs of death or fatal trauma. If there is any doubt about the appropriateness of CPR, resuscitative measures should be performed. However, CPR should not be attempted like a reflex action, without considering the individual circumstances, the patient's preferences and his prognosis. Age or preexisting diseases are factors that might affect the withholding or withdrawing of CPR, although the decision should not be based solely on these factors, but on criteria with a better predictive value, such as the initial cardiac rhythm and the course of CPR application. Changes in cardiac rhythm might be of prognostic value, because rhythms other than ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation tend to predominate the longer an arrest is in progress. The outcome worsens with prolonged CPR. A termination of unsuccessful CPR after 30 to 45 minutes seems to be reasonable. With respect to the preservation of life as one of the main goals of medicine we have to accept the ethical dilemma that CPR is performed in a number of patients although retrospectively it turns out to have been inappropriate or unwanted by the patient. Nevertheless, therapeutic interventions might be stopped later on after additional info...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Arrhythmia

Arrhythmias are abnormalities in heart rhythms, which can be either too fast or too slow. They can result from abnormalities of the initiation of an impulse or impulse conduction or a combination of both. Here is the latest research on arrhythmias.

Related Papers

Anästhesiologie, Intensivmedizin, Notfallmedizin, Schmerztherapie : AINS
M MohrD Kettler
The California Journal of Emergency Medicine
Jan M ShoenbergerSean O Henderson
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved