Médecine thérapeutique / Pédiatrie
MENUHow does the law about End-of-life apply to child with polyhandicap ? Volume 15, issue 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2012
Authors
Thierry Billette de Villemeur, Catherine Brisse, Alexandra Afenjar, Arnaud Isapof, Eric Humbertclaude, Sophie Mathieu
AP-HP,
Service de neuropédiatrie,
Pathologie du développement,
Hôpital Trousseau,
Paris,
France, Université Pierre et Marie Curie,
ParisVI,
Paris
France, AP-HP,
Pôle polyhandicap pédiatrique,
Hôpital de La Roche Guyon,
95000 La Roche Guyon,
France, AP-HP,
Fédération du polyhandicap de l’AP-HP,
Paris,
France, CESAP : Comité d’étude,
d’éducation et de soins auprès des personnes polyhandicapées,
Paris,
France
- Key words: Polyhandicap, Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD), child, palliative care, End-of-life
- DOI : 10.1684/mtp.2012.0420
- Page(s) : 34-7
- Published in: 2012
The law « Leonetti » clarified and framed the decision and the implementation of the care and the treatments administered to the patient at the end-of-life. In child with polyhandicap, care and treatments do not intend to cure him, but to improve his/her quality of life and to fight against the over-handicaps : these are indeed palliative care, even if they go on over very long periods, often several years. For child with polyhandicap, End-of-life care is set up when his/her state deteriorates and it can include limitation or stop of certain treatments. Leonetti law helps to clarify what differentiates palliative and End-of-life care for child with polyhandicap, as shown here in a peculiar clinical situation.