The concept of advance directives emerged in response to the technological progress and aggressive medical treatment being employed in ambiguous situations, as in the case of a bad prognosis. The core of this document is the exercise of the patients´ autonomy. The Federal Council of Medicine´s 1.995/2012 Resolution establishes the criteria for anyone - provided that the patient is legally old enough and fully aware - to be able to choose together with his/her doctor the therapeutic limits at the end of life. The document is optional and may be completed at any time in life and, in the same way it can be modified or cancelled at any time. The purpose of this article is to consider its benefits, obstacles and limits considering the vast amount of researches carried out on this theme and the positive and negative experiences from other countries in order to contribute to the discussion about its effective use in Brazil.
Advanced directives; Personal autonomy; Bioethics