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The Nonviable Patient and Organ Procurement

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Acute Care Surgery

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Abstract

The current state of medical technology and critical care support is such that people who never had a chance of survival a generation ago routinely leave the hospital and return to productive lives. The unfortunate side effect of this remarkable advance is that not all patients fare so well. The patient rapidly delivered to tertiary care for resuscitation only to be found to have a lethal central nervous system disease is a common occurrence on trauma and critical care services. The concept of the nonsalvageable patient and the role of futile care has become a regular part of conversations among medical staff at all levels—physician, nursing, resident, medical student, and allied health professional. Recognition of this patient is not always simple. We will argue these issues among ourselves. Who is nonsalvageable? What care is futile? How do we broach this with the families of these patients?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Frederic J. Cole Jr. MD, Jay N. Collins MD & Leonard J. Weireter Jr. MD

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  1. Frederic J. Cole Jr. MD
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  2. Jay N. Collins MD
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  3. Leonard J. Weireter Jr. MD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA

    L. D. Britt MD, MPH (Brickhouse Professor of Surgery and Chairman) (Brickhouse Professor of Surgery and Chairman)

  2. Department of Surgery, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA

    Donald D. Trunkey MD (Professor) (Professor)

  3. Emory University School of Medicine, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA

    David V. Feliciano MD (Professor of Surgery, Chief of Surgery) (Professor of Surgery, Chief of Surgery)

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Cole, F.J., Collins, J.N., Weireter, L.J. (2007). The Nonviable Patient and Organ Procurement. In: Britt, L.D., Trunkey, D.D., Feliciano, D.V. (eds) Acute Care Surgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69012-4_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69012-4_44

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-34470-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-69012-4

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