Beliefs of physician directors on the management of devastating brain injuries at the Canadian emergency department and intensive care unit interface: a national site-level survey

Purpose Insufficient evidence-based recommendations to guide care for patients with devastating brain injuries (DBIs) leave patients vulnerable to inconsistent practice at the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) interface. We sought to characterize the beliefs of Canadian emergen...

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Published in:	Canadian journal of anesthesia Vol. 71; no. 8; pp. 1145 - 1153
Main Authors:	Wtorek, Piotr, Weiss, Matthew J., Singh, Jeffrey M., Hrymak, Carmen, Chochinov, Alecs, Grunau, Brian, Paunovic, Bojan, Shemie, Sam D., Lalani, Jehan, Piggott, Bailey, Stempien, James, Archambault, Patrick, Seleseh, Parisa, Fowler, Rob, Leeies, Murdoch
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 01-08-2024 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Adult Anesthesiology Attitude of Health Personnel Blood & organ donations Brain Injuries - therapy Canada Cardiology Critical Care Critical Care Medicine Cross-Sectional Studies Emergency medical care Emergency Medicine Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data Female Humans Intensive Intensive care Intensive Care Units - organization & administration Male Medicine Medicine & Public Health Pain Medicine Patients Pediatrics Physician Executives Pneumology/Respiratory System Reports of Original Investigations Surveys and Questionnaires Traumatic brain injury Withholding Treatment - statistics & numerical data Canada devastating brain injuries neuroprognostication survey
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Summary:	Purpose Insufficient evidence-based recommendations to guide care for patients with devastating brain injuries (DBIs) leave patients vulnerable to inconsistent practice at the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) interface. We sought to characterize the beliefs of Canadian emergency medicine (EM) and critical care medicine (CCM) physician site directors regarding current management practices for patients with DBI. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of EM and CCM physician directors of adult EDs and ICUs across Canada (December 2022 to March 2023). Our primary outcome was the proportion of respondents who manage (or consult on) patients with DBI in the ED. We conducted subgroup analyses to compare beliefs of EM and CCM physicians. Results Of 303 eligible respondents, we received 98 (32%) completed surveys (EM physician directors, 46; CCM physician directors, 52). Most physician directors reported participating in the decision to withdraw life-sustaining measures (WLSM) for patients with DBI in the ED (80%, n = 78), but 63% of these ( n = 62) said this was infrequent. Physician directors reported that existing neuroprognostication methods are rarely sufficient to support WLSM in the ED (49%, n = 48) and believed that an ICU stay is required to improve confidence (99%, n = 97). Most (96%, n = 94) felt that providing caregiver visitation time prior to WLSM was a valid reason for ICU admission. Conclusion In our survey of Canadian EM and CCM physician directors, 80% participated in WLSM in the ED for patients with DBI. Despite this, most supported ICU admission to optimize neuroprognostication and patient-centred end-of-life care, including organ donation.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0832-610X 1496-8975 1496-8975
DOI:	10.1007/s12630-024-02749-7