Parents Demand and Teenager Refuses Epidural Anesthesia

Shared decision-making in adolescent healthcare: a literature review of ethical considerations

PURPOSE

Adolescence is a period of growing independence and maturity, within the period of legal minority. As parents or guardians are socially and legally responsible for adolescents' medical decisions, shared decision-making in adolescent healthcare could be ethically challenging. This review aims to identify and map the ethical tensions in shared decision-making in adolescent healthcare.

METHODS

We systematically searched the literature following the PRISMA guidelines to identify relevant articles, which were analyzed using the review of reasons methodology Strech and Sofaer (J Med Ethics 38(2):121-6, 2012).

RESULTS

We included 38 articles which involved adolescents, healthcare professionals and parents as being the main stakeholders. Shared decision-making was influenced not only by individual stakeholders' characteristics, but by tensions between stakeholder dyads. Most studies supported the involvement of the adolescent in decision-making, depending on their life experience, decision-making capacity and clinical condition.

CONCLUSIONS

Shared decision-making in adolescent health is receiving increasing attention. However, questions remain on what this concept entails, the roles and involvement of stakeholders and its practical implementation.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Although adolescents wish to be involved in health decisions, shared decision-making in adolescents is underexplored • Adolescent shared decision-making is different from pediatric and adult shared decision-making, and is ethically complex due to the adolescent's growing autonomy What is new: • Adolescent SDM involves three-way interactions between the adolescent, healthcare professional and parents • In adolescent shared decision-making, involving or excluding a stakeholder and sharing or withholding information are ethically value-laden steps • Research is needed to further understand the roles of adolescents' personal value systems, extended or reconstituted families and decision aids in shared decision-making.

Complications in paediatric regional anaesthesia: a narrative review

Paediatric anaesthesia and paediatric regional anaesthesia are intertwined. Currently, almost all paediatric patients posted for surgery could and should be given a regional block unless and until contraindicated. This is because the scope, techniques, and their benefits have a wide range and complications are rare. The first report that used regional anaesthesia in children was in 1898, and over the last 120 years it has been developed with many scholars’ wisdom, ideas and publications. Paediatric regional anaesthesia (PRA) has many advantages but requires experience and expertise. For a long-time, exclusively landmark-guided techniques were used and gradually the development of new techniques such as the use of neuro-stimulator and ultrasound-guided (USG) blocks developed into PRA. Especially, the application of ultrasonography (US) has revolutionised the practice of PRA. Few limitations of regional anaesthesia can be tackled by the use of US, leading to shorter time to perform the block, reduced time for block onset and use of a smaller volume of local anaesthetic. Life threatening complications of regional anaesthesia are rare and the riskbenefit ratio is favourable. However, a thorough insight into RA complications, no matter how rare they are, is essential for safe practice. This is because they can be life-threatening, and no matter how small the percentage is, when complications occur, for that individual patient statistics is irrelevant.