PALLIATIVE CARE IN INTENSIVE CARE MEDICINE - CASE REPORT AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Background Population of patients who are being treated in intensive care units in developed world is becoming older and with more serious comorbidities, resulting in rising numbers of patients with unfavourable prognosis. As continuation of intensive care becomes less efficient in these patients, the alternative they have to be offered is good quality palliative care. Management of such patients is complex, multidisciplinary and currently still inadequate, mainly because health care providers in intensive care are still unfamiliar with concept of palliative care and more importantly because palliative care seems to be contradictory to saving life at all cost, as we do in intensive care medicine. Conclusions We would like to present a review of current literature on palliative care in intensive medicine.