END-OF LIFE MEDICO-ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING IN VETERINARYONCOLOGY: ETHICS IN SURGICAL DECISION MAKING

摘要

How often do veterinary patients undergo unhelpful surgery? Few days pass by when veterinary surgeons are not challenged with the responsibility of life and death surgical decision making. Often there are complex issues, which extend beyond straightforward medical training. Most veterinarians may have completed their educations without ever having formal classes and training in ethical decision making and compassionate communication. Surgeons must juggle issues involving ethics, economics and empathywhen they provide services for a terminally ill patient (TIP) with comorbidities, aging, frailty and/or cancer. To be honest, one must examine one's own broad based belief systems, values and personal bias because this affects how one makes decisions and influences their clients. The surgeon who communicates with honesty and compassion will have the best outcomes and relationships. The bioethical goal in veterinary end of life surgical decision making is to arrive at reasonable decisions that are in the best interest of the patient, which embrace the science and art of medicine while honoring the human-animal bond. To be compassionate, one must communicate the likely prognostic range for the patient's survival with empathy and kindness.