New guideline describes nephrology community consensus on withholding and withdrawing dialysis. Recommendations regarding withdrawing dialysis. 2.
This article reviews two of the recommendations in the RPA/ASN clinical practice guideline that are particularly relevant to making decisions to stop dialysis. The final article in the series will review the recommendations in the RPA/ASN clinical practice guideline regarding resolving conflicts with patients and families and making decisions about whether to dialyze patients who are terminally ill from non-renal causes or who are unable to cooperate with the dialysis process. In all, the guideline makes nine recommendations regarding the treatment of patients with either acute renal failure or end-stage renal disease, and each recommendation is supported by a rationale. The guideline includes 25 prognostic tables and 302 references. The goal of the guideline was to improve patient care by promoting medically and ethically sound decisions about starting and stopping dialysis.
Moss
A H
AH
Section of Nephrology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, W. Va., USA.
D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D028761:Withholding Treatment