• Sravya Ennamuri, Erika Abramson, Elizabeth Mauer, Linda M Gerber, and Marianne E Nellis.
• Department of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2021 Jan 1; 24 (1): 107-111.

AbstractBackground: The relationship between clinical course and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status has not been well studied in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting. Objective: To describe the relationship between DNR order placement and clinical course. Design: Single center retrospective cohort study. Setting/Subjects: Patients, ages 0-18 years, who have died in the PICU from 2008 to 2016. Measurements: Retrospective chart review of DNR status, patient characteristics, and clinical course. We compared length of stay and number of consults/procedures/imaging studies done on patients with early DNR (>48 hours before death), late DNR (within 48 hours of death), and no DNR order placement. Results: One-hundred and sixty-one children were included. Nearly half (48%) were male with median (interquartile range) age of 3 years (0-12). One-third (58) had an underlying oncologic diagnosis. Eighteen percent (29/161) were classified as early DNR, 33% (53/161) as late DNR, and 49% (79/161) as no DNR. We found no differences in patient characteristics or risk of mortality at admission among the groups. The early DNR group showed decreased number of invasive procedures (0.68), imaging studies (1), and consults (0.21) per day when compared with the late (2, 1.53, 0.50) and no DNR groups (2.09, 1.73, 0.43). Conclusion: Our results suggest that early DNR placement in the PICU is associated with a change in clinical course centered around less invasive care. Earlier DNR placement can potentially trigger a shift in care goals that could improve the quality of life for patients and mitigate emotional and physical toll on patients and their families during the highly stressful end-of-life time period.

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