GuidelineIntensive care medicine2016
Guidelines for the withdrawal of life-sustaining measures.
Guideline in Intensive care medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sex-related differences in end-of-life decision-making in patients with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC palliative care · 2026Pooled it
- [Treatment and support for adults at the end of life in intensive care. A recommendation by the Ethics Section of DIVI and the German Society for Palliative Medicine. : Part 2: Therapeutic measures and support at the end of life in intensive care].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Guideline
- European Resuscitation Council and European Society of Intensive Care Medicine guidelines 2025: post-resuscitation care.Intensive care medicine · 2025Guideline
- What helps or hinders effective end-of-life care in adult intensive care units in Middle Eastern countries? A systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2024Guideline
- Risk factors for complicated grief among family members bereaved in intensive care unit settings: A systematic review.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Consensus statement for cancer patients requiring intensive care support.Annals of hematology · 2018Guideline
- Canadian Guidelines for Controlled Pediatric Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death-Summary Report.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2017Guideline
- Donation Care Work: Family Members' Contributions to Deceased Organ Donation Following Determination of Death Using Circulatory Criteria.Sociology of health & illness · 2026Article
- Behaviour artificial intelligence technology to support the decision-making process of continuation or withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Article
- Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Intensive Care Unit Consultation.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Healthcare utilization and end-of-life care based on life-sustaining treatment decisions in patients with cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Continuous Opioid Infusion Among Patients Who Receive Mechanical Ventilation and Who Transition to Comfort-Focused Care.CHEST critical care · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial use in patients with end-of-life status in intensive care units: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Fujita medical journal · 2026Article
- Withdrawal of Mechanical Ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit: A Prospective Observational Study.CHEST critical care · 2025Article
- Review
- Palliative General Anesthesia at Terminal Extubation: "Go Gentle into that Good Night".Neurocritical care · 2025Article
- An Integrative Review on Exploring Organ Donation After Death by Circulatory Criteria in Canada.Progress in transplantation (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) · 2025Review
- Study protocol testing feasibility of the Comfort Measures Only Time out (CMOT) to reduce distress during palliative withdrawal of mechanical ventilation.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Navigating the gift of life: demystifying the organ donation and transplantation pathway in Canada.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2025Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWithdrawal of life-sustaining measures is a common event in the intensive care unit yet it involves a complex balance of medical, legal and ethical considerations. Very few healthcare providers have been specifically trained to withdraw life-sustaining measures, and no comprehensive guidelines exist to help ensure clinicians deliver the highest quality of care to patients and families. Hence, we sought to develop guidelines for the process of withdrawing life-sustaining measures in the clinical setting.
methodsWe convened an interdisciplinary group of ICU care providers from the Canadian Critical Care Society and the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses, and used a modified Delphi process to answer key clinical and ethical questions identified in the literature.
resultsA total of 39 experienced clinicians completed the initial workshop, and 36 were involved in the subsequent Delphi rounds. The group developed a series of guidelines to address (1) preparing for withdrawal of life-sustaining measures; (2) assessment of distress; (3) pharmaceutical management of distress; and (4) discontinuation of life-sustaining measures and monitoring. The group achieved consensus on all aspects of the guidelines after the third Delphi round.
conclusionWe present these guidelines to help physicians provide high-quality end of life (EOL) care in the ICU. Future studies should address their effectiveness from both critical care team and family perspectives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27059793What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.