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Thursday 16 February 2012

Should patients receive general anaesthesia prior to extubation at the end of life?

Should patients receive general anaesthesia prior to extubation at the end of life? Critical care medicine, Feb 2012, Vol. 40(2), p. 631-633.

Truog, R.D., et al.


Billings has proposed that any potentially conscious and imminently dying patient who is undergoing withdrawal of ventilator support should be offered general anesthesia to fully protect against suffering. Here we examine whether his proposal is compatible with the doctrine of double effect, a philosophical construct that is generally in accord with the legal requirements for palliative care in the United States.


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