Journal of vascular surgery
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A surgeon, Dr A. Droit, has been following a 97-year-old male with a type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm, which became symptomatic this morning and is leaking. The patient is frail but active with no important comorbidities. ⋯ Dr Droit knows an anesthesiologist who handles high-risk patients at another hospital in the medical center. The patient has worsened over the last hour, is becoming more unstable, and is unable to respond but his wife wishes to consent for surgery. What should Dr Droit do?
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The chief of surgery at a large academic medical center is approached by a vascular surgical faculty member. After a repair of an aortic dissection, an elderly man has remained comatose and has worsened over several weeks, developing multiple system organ failure. Statistically, his chance of leaving the hospital alive is <1%. ⋯ A large group complained to patient affairs and was taken to the medical center director's office. Today, the director told the attending that the hospital would absorb the overall cost until the patient dies and that the unfavorable press from stopping care is unacceptable. The chief of surgery should: