OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the deaths which occurred at the HU/UFSC. To compare the profile of patients who died in the wards with that of patients who died in the ICU. To classify deaths which were expected or not, and avoidable or not. To verify how often withholding or withdrawing (WW) therapy preceded death. METHODS: Archives of the Hospital Death Commission (HDC) were analyzed. The clinical and demographic records were retrieved from the HDC data bank. Deaths were classified by the HDC as expected or not and avoidable or not. RESULTS: Data from 326 dead persons over 14 years of age were analyzed. One hundred and twenty eight deaths occurred in the ICU (G1) and 198 in the wards (G2). WW therapy preceded 38.2% of deaths in G1 and 2% in G2 (p<0.001). The main WW therapies were vasoactive drugs and antibiotics. Almost 20% of deaths were unexpected/avoidable in G1. In G2 6.5% were considered unexpected and 5% avoidable (p<0.005). Patients in G1 were younger and mostly male (p<0.005). Do-not-resuscitate orders were registered in 48.4% of patients' medical charts in G2 and 6.3% in G1 (p<0.001). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed in 23.4% of patients in G1 and in 5.5% in G2 (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In G1, patients were younger and deaths were more frequently preceded by WW. In G2, half of the patients had do-not-resuscitate order registered in their medical charts. In only a few patients were deaths considered unexpected or avoidable. No evident professional or institutional error was identified.
Dead; Ethics; Futility; Withdrawal treatment
