Use of Jonsen's Four Topic Approach in the Treatment Policy of COVID-19-Associated Severe Respiratory Failure under Prolonged Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Case of Ethical Approach

Abstract

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been as a for lifesaving rescue therapy for patients with severe acute respiratory failure associated with coronavirus disease-2019 unresponsive to mechanical ventilation. Although the broad application of this new technology undoubtedly saves lives in many cases, these innovations have created new ethical issues in intensive care medicine. Intensivists managing patients treated with ECMO should be prepared to deal not only with complex clinical management, but also with ethical issues. For the clinical-ethical case analysis, we used the "four-topic" approach described by Jonsen, et al. This method helped classify all aspects of clinical ethics into four categories and provided a framework for linking the current situation of this case to ethical principles.