Ethical and legal considerations and recommendations for action in the physical restraint use in critically ill patients

Physical restraint use is a common practice in Intensive Care Units. However, despite this high prevalence, it is a practice full of adverse effects, with uncertain effectiveness in preventing self-removal devices and that raises numerous ethical conflicts. Current recommendations suggest restraints should be a last resort measure, they should not be prolonged beyond what is strictly necessary and that they should only be used if, in the interprofessional assessment of benefits-risks for the patient, benefits greatly outweigh harms. This manuscript aims to serve as a guide for decision-making from an ethical perspective on the use or non-use of physical restraints in critically ill patients. Likewise, a review of the legal and deontological framework that governs restraint use in our country is proposed. Finally, recommendations for practice are offered, both for healthcare professionals and healthcare managers, upon the construction of restraints-free Intensive Care Units and good practices in the exceptional cases they are necessary.