The Profile of Patients with Limitation of Life Support Treatments from the Bioethics Perspective. Contributions to the Current Debate

Abstract

The role of Intensive Care Units is to support the insufficiency of the organs of critically ill patients. In the vast majority of patients, it is possible to reverse the situation of vital risk, but in return we are also talking about one of the hospital services that has more mortality statistically and that should limit the techniques in an important part of the cases. In accordance with the principle of beneficence, one of the principles of medical ethics, the limitation can occur before applying these techniques since it is determined at the outset that no therapeutic benefit can be offered to the patient, but once these have already been applied techniques are also to be limited as they cease to be beneficial later. These possibilities have evidenced more and more aspects related to disproportionate treatments. This article aims to make a contribution to the principle of autonomy in the health field.