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End-at-lite Care in the ICU: Commonalities and Differences between North America and Europe

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Intensive Care Medicine

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Abstract

Advances in medical science and health care have gradually changed the nature of dying. Death no longer is likely to be the sudden result of infection or injury, but instead occurs slowly, in old age, and at the end of a period of life-limiting or chronic illness. This shift has created new challenges for critical care medicine. In this chapter, we provide a brief overview about critical care utilization at the end-of-life and the most important challenges we face. We discuss these challenges from an American and European perspective, as end-of-life decisions vary substantially between these two continents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 605 Scaife Hall 3550, Terrace Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Y.-L. C. Nguyen, F. B. Mayr & D. C. Angus

Authors
  1. Y.-L. C. Nguyen
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  2. F. B. Mayr
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  3. D. C. Angus
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Université libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent MD, PhD, FCCM, FCCP (Head) (Head)

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Nguyen, YL.C., Mayr, F.B., Angus, D.C. (2010). End-at-lite Care in the ICU: Commonalities and Differences between North America and Europe. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5562-3_52

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5562-3_52

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5561-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-5562-3

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