Ethical issues in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Advanced technology and better scientific understanding of mechanisms of disease now permit intensive care personnel to extend life beyond what some patients and families consider reasonable, leading, in part, to the "patients' rights" movement and the articulation of legal and moral guidelines for foregoing life support. In the case of pediatrics, commentaries on a few of the topics that have arisen most frequently or have provided the greatest challenge in the authors' experience are provided.
Frader
J
J
Department of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Thompson
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000523:psychology*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D033222:Judicial Role; D033242:Minors; D033282:Parental Consent; D010372:Pediatrics; D012945:Social Values; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D035501:Uncertainty; D014481:United States; D026712:Value of Life; D028761:Withholding Treatment