Ethical Considerations of the Neurosurgical Patient

Neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and other clinicians treating patients with neurological disorders can encounter a set of unusually difficult ethical issues, including especially questions about whether to initiate or continue neurosurgical or life-sustaining interventions for neurologically impaired patients. These questions are especially challenging because neurologically injured patients are often unable to make treatment decisions for themselves and because the prognosis for recovery is often uncertain. This article includes ethical frameworks for addressing these difficult questions. This review contains 5 tables, and 31 references.  Keywords: Bioethics, Autonomy, Beneficence, Justice, Informed consent, Surrogate decision making, Vegetative state, Minimally conscious state, Brain death, Organ donation