PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Aoife Gleeson
AU  - Faye Johnson
TI  - Withdrawal of invasive ventilation in a patient with motor neurone disease and total locked-in syndrome
AID  - 10.1136/practneurol-2016-001574
DP  - 2017 Apr 20
TA  - Practical Neurology
PG  - practneurol-2016-001574
4099  - http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2017/04/20/practneurol-2016-001574.short
4100  - http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2017/04/20/practneurol-2016-001574.full
AB  - Withdrawing invasive ventilation from a person with motor neurone disease who lacks the relevant mental capacity raises ethical issues such as the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and establishing best interests. There is little available information on providing optimal symptom management to these patients during the withdrawal process. We describe a man with motor neurone disease who also had total locked-in syndrome at the time of ventilation withdrawal, and we document the legal, ethical, emotional and symptom control issues encountered in supporting him.