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Palliative care for terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit: Systematic review and metaanalysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2016

Belmira D.C.P.C.C. Martins ,
Reinaldo A. Oliveira  and
Antonio J.M. Cataneo
Belmira D.C.P.C.C. Martins*
Affiliation:
Program on General Basis of Surgery, Botucatu School of Medicine, São Paulo State University, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
Reinaldo A. Oliveira
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Medicine and Medical Ethics, São Paulo University, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
Antonio J.M. Cataneo
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, São Paulo State University, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Belmira D.C.P.C.C. Martins, Program on General Basis of Surgery, Botucatu School of Medicine, São Paulo State University, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil. E-Mail: belmartadv@terra.com.br.
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Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of our systematic review was to determine whether the introduction of palliative care (PC) teams reduces length of stay and/or mortality for terminally ill patients (TIPs) in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Method:

We hoped to examine studies that compared TIPs in an ICU who received end-of-life care following implementation of a PC team (intervention group) to those who received care where PC teams had not yet been introduced (control group). We searched MEDLINE via PubMed, LILACS, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL (search conducted in December of 2015) without language restrictions. Our outcome measures were length of stay in an ICU, presented as an average difference with a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI95%), and mortality in the ICU, presented as a risk ratio with a corresponding CI95%. Two of our authors independently extracted all of the data.

Results:

Of the 399 publications identified, 27 were selected for full-text analysis and 19 were excluded, leaving 8 articles for inclusion, which involved a total of 7,846 patients. A metaanalysis of mortality in the ICU was conducted with four studies. Lower mortality was found in the intervention group: risk ratio = 0.78 (CI95% = 0.70–0.87), p < 0.00001, I2 = 18%. Length of stay in the ICU was presented as a mean and standard deviation in four studies, and the result was a reduction of ~2.5 days in the length of stay with application of the intervention: mean = –2.44 days (CI95% = –4.41 to –0.48), p = 0.01, I2 = 86%.

Significance of results:

Introduction of palliative care teams can reduce mortality rates in the ICU, and perhaps shorten length of stay in the ICU for terminally ill patients.

Keywords

Palliative careTerminal carePalliative treatmentEnd-of-life careIntensive care units
Type
Review Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 376 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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