Limitation to Advanced Life Support in patients admitted to intensive care unit with integrated palliative care

OBJECTIVE To estimate the incidence of limitations to Advanced Life Support in critically ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit with integrated palliative care. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included patients in the palliative care program of the intensive care unit of Hospital Paulistano over 18 years of age from May 1, 2011, to January 31, 2014. The limitations to Advanced Life Support that were analyzed included do-not-resuscitate orders, mechanical ventilation, dialysis and vasoactive drugs. Central tendency measures were calculated for quantitative variables. The chi-squared test was used to compare the characteristics of patients with or without limits to Advanced Life Support, and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare length of stay after Advanced Life Support. Confidence intervals reflecting p ≤ 0.05 were considered for statistical significance. RESULTS A total of 3,487 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, of whom 342 were included in the palliative care program. It was observed that after entering the palliative care program, it took a median of 2 (1 - 4) days for death to occur in the intensive care unit and 4 (2 - 11) days for hospital death to occur. Many of the limitations to Advanced Life Support (42.7%) took place on the first day of hospitalization. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (96.8%) and ventilatory support (73.6%) were the most adopted limitations. CONCLUSION The contribution of palliative care integrated into the intensive care unit was important for the practice of orthothanasia, i.e., the non-extension of the life of a critically ill patient by artificial means.