DC Treatment

Discontinuation of treatment (DC TX) is the termination of life-support treatment in an intensive care setting.

Life support treatment may include, but is not limited to, mechanical ventilation, dialysis, medications (including vasoactive drugs and antibiotics), chemotherapy, artifical nutrition/hydration and supplementary oxygen.

DC TX checkbox location in CCMDB.mdb

In ACCESS (CCMDB.mdb) the checkbox is on the "Reg, ADL and Variables" tab.

If the unit physician discontinues life-support treatment (withdraws therapy) on a patient and death is immediate, then Transfer ready should be left blank. This field is not for recording the date and time when discontinuation of life support process started.

If a unit physician discontinues life-support treatment and a patient does not die immediately and is placed on a transfer/ready list, and then passes away PRIOR TO being transferred out of the ICU unit, then Transfer ready should not be recorded.

If a patient arrests in the unit and CPR is unsuccessful, the date and time of stopping CPR should not be recorded for Transfer ready.

http://www.cja-jca.org/cgi/content/abstract/46/5/497 (GM Eschun, E Jacobsohn, D Roberts and B Sneiderman)1999.
- you can see the FULL TEXT (PDF) if you select this option at the top right of the article on this page.

Withdrawal of treatment is not the same as withdrawal of care. DC Treatment in an ICU setting occurs because it is often possible to maintain life for long periods of time without any hope of recovery. Intensive care is a means of supporting organ systems and it is not always curative. Prolonging the process of dying is not in the patient's best interests nor is it ethical. (Winter,B. & Cohen,S. (1999). ABC of intensive care. Withdrawal of treatment. BMJ 319, 306-308.)

to be filled in with summary of stuff pertaining to both Template:Discussion

Our current practice on Medicine at HSC is to use the DC treatment code when active treatment is discontinued and death is expected imminently.In doctors orders VS are stopped,blood work is stopped,usually all meds except comfort caremedications are given.Often these medications include narcotics,antiemetics and scopalomine.

For Medicine patients who have treatment discontinued and comfort measures provided. It is not necessary to double code patients with DC treatment and palliative if death is imminent.Use DC treatment.
Use palliative if the patient's death is not expected to occur imminently.
if a patient who life support treatment was DC'd and he did not die in the ICU and was transferred to a ward and died there a few hours or days later, the ward primary admission code would be Palliative Care, and the DC TX box must also be checked off. TOstryzniuk 01:32, 28 November 2008 (CST)