title: Ethical issues in treating infants with very low birth weight.
abstract: The purpose of this report is to provide pediatric surgeons with an ethical framework and a process for ethical decision making that can be applied to the difficult issues that arise in the care of infants with very low birth weight (VLBW). Clinical ethical issues focus around choices for surgical intervention, the use of total parenteral nutrition (TPN), recommendations for bowel transplantation, and management of dying infants. The role of family in decision making and the appropriate use of common distinctions including active or passive, withholding or withdrawing, and ordinary or extraordinary in decisions about life-sustaining treatments are discussed. A clinical case discussion illustrates the application of the process for ethical decision making.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Ethics and Law, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Glover
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Caniano
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D009359:Neonatology / Q000592:standards*; D010290:Parents; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D016079:Refusal to Treat