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Shared decision-making in pediatrics can be problematic when disagreements arise. The impermissible-permissible-obligatory (I-P-O) framework helps define the limits of parental authority when clinicians disagree with parents. There is little guidance in the literature, however, on making critical clinical decisions when parents disagree with each other. We use a clinical case involving parental disagreement over resuscitation at borderline gestational age to provide context for an analysis of several potential approaches based on established ethical principles of pediatric decision-making. We identify four potential options for delivery room care: (1) Defer to the pregnant parent; (2) withhold resuscitation unless both parents agree to it; (3) attempt resuscitation if either parent requests it; (4) decide about resuscitation using a framework of advisability. The merits and flaws of each approach are discussed. We propose an expansion of the I-P-O framework that uses consideration of clinical details, an assessment of the patient's best interest, and parental values to determine clinical advisability to guide decision-making in the setting of parental discordance., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

The clinical productivity of neonatology divisions is often defined as relative value units (RVUs) produced per clinical full-time equivalent physicians (cFTEs). Based on the realities of neonatology clinical billing, commonly daily bundled charges, and one cFTE defined as a fixed number of clinical hours per year, the RVU:cFTE ratio will inevitably be proportional to the number of NICU patients per physician clinical hour. As a result, increasing productivity defined as the RVU:cFTE ratio, a commonly incentivized goal in neonatology, requires decreasing physician time per patient. As neonatology groups seek to surpass RVU:cFTE benchmarks based upon productivity of peer institutions, they end up in a "race to the bottom," each striving to spend less time per patient than their peers. This definition of physician productivity fails to consider the importance of time itself as an essential "product" provided by physicians, and can undermine the clinical mission and quality of care., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Critical decision-making in neonatology and other areas of pediatrics often carries with it a complex and difficult ethical component. For any treatment under consideration, the impermissible-permissible-obligatory (I-P-O) spectrum provides a useful framework for determining how to proceed. Any proposed treatment can be located along this spectrum, and identified as either ethically impermissible, permissible, or obligatory. Treatments determined to be ethically impermissible should not be made available by physicians. Those deemed ethically permissible should be explained to parents, commonly with a specific recommendation. Informed parents should then be free to choose from among permissible options. Potential treatments deemed ethically obligatory should be provided to the patient, even in the face of parental objection. The fundamental ethical work in neonatology and pediatrics is determining where on the I-P-O spectrum a treatment under consideration should be located. This should be determined by the prognosis for the patient with and without the treatment, the feasibility of providing the treatment, and consideration of all relevant rights and obligations. Location on the line is dynamic, and clinicians should be open to movement of a given treatment along the spectrum as new information, particularly regarding effectiveness, toxicity, and/or alternatives, becomes available. This framework provides a structure for ethical conversation and decision-making related to a specific patient, as well as in the formation of institutional and national guidelines.

Background/objectives: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious disease linked to prematurity. A variant, NEC totalis, is associated with nearly 100% mortality. There is wide variation in counseling practices for NEC totalis. Our objectives are to determine what treatment options, if any, are offered to families, and which factors influence these decisions., Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed to members of the AAP Sections on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and Pediatric Surgery. Data were analyzed utilizing chi-square tests and Spearman correlations, where applicable., Results: In the setting of NEC totalis, 90% of the 378 respondents viewed offering life-sustaining interventions (LSI) as ethically permissible and 87% felt that transfer to another center willing to provide LSI should be considered; however, only 43% reported offering LSI to families., Conclusions: Management of NEC totalis remains challenging and significant practice variability persists. Most respondents do not offer ongoing medical/surgical management, despite believing it is an ethically permissible option.

Investigators have recently described successful use of an EXTrauterine Environment for Neonatal Development (EXTEND), essentially an artificial womb, to maintain extremely premature fetal lambs ex utero for up to 4 weeks, supporting normal growth and development. The animals were maintained in a fluid environment (Biobag) while nutrition and gas exchange were supported via umbilical catheters and the use of an external membrane oxygenator. The lambs studied correspond to humans at 23-25 weeks' gestation, which is the target range for proposed clinical trials. This new technology offers the possibility of improving outcomes in a patient population with a high rate of mortality and morbidity. However, if safety and efficacy are adequately demonstrated in the lamb model, there remain important ethical considerations worthy of discussion prior to human trials. Moreover, the authors state there is no intention to use EXTEND on patients below the current limit of viability, but this possibility should nevertheless be considered, and should also be the subject of ethical discussion. Analysis of relevant ethical issues, including patient selection, moral status, rights, obligations, and others should precede use of this promising technology in humans.

Parental counseling becomes complex when considering the use of emerging technologies, especially if it is unclear whether the level of evidence is sufficient to transform the proposed therapy into accepted practice. This paper addresses ethical issues underlying medical decision-making and counseling in the setting of emerging treatments, when long-term outcomes are still in the process of being fully validated. We argue that the ethical transition of emerging technologies, ideally from ethically impermissible to permissible, to obligatory, depends primarily on two factors: outcome data (or prognosis) and treatment feasibility. To illustrate these points, we will use intestinal transplant for short bowel syndrome (SBS) as a specific example. After reviewing the data, this paper will identify the ethical justifications for both comfort care only and intestinal transplant in patients with ultra SBS, and argue that both are ethically permissible, but neither is obligatory. The approach outlined will not only be valuable as ultra SBS outcomes data continue to change, but will also be applicable to other novel therapies as they emerge in perinatal medicine.

Objective: Owing to resident work-hour reductions and more permanent personnel in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU), we sought to determine if pediatric housestaff are missing learning opportunities in procedural training due to non-participation., Study Design: A prospective, observational study was conducted at an academic NICU using self-reported data from neonatal personnel after attempting 188 procedures on 109 neonates, and analyzed using Fisher's exact and χ (2)-tests., Result: Housestaff first attempted 32% of procedures (P<0.001) and were less likely to make attempts early in the academic year (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in attempts based on urgency of situation (P=0.742). Of procedures performed by non-housestaff personnel, 93% were completed while housestaff were present elsewhere in the unit., Conclusion: Pediatric housestaff performed the minority of procedures in the NICU, even in non-urgent situations, and were often uninvolved in other procedures, representing missed learning opportunities.

Institutional Ethics Committees are commonly available in hospitals with newborn intensive care units, and may serve as a valuable resource for staff and parents dealing with difficult ethical decisions. Many clinicians may be unaware of when the committee might be helpful, or how it functions. After a brief historical introduction, two cases are presented as illustrations of pediatric ethics committee function. The first involves consideration of cardiac surgery for an infant with ventricular septal defect and Trisomy 13. The second involves disagreement between staff and parents regarding possible provision of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in a terminally ill newborn. Principles and considerations often brought to bear in committee deliberations are reviewed for each case. Neonatologists, staff and families should be aware of this potentially valuable resource, and are encouraged to use it for situations of moral distress, conflict resolution or ethical uncertainty.

Objective: To explore how neonates with respiratory failure are selected for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) once severity of illness criteria are met, and to determine how conflicts between ECMO providers and parents over the initiation of ECMO are addressed., Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a data collection survey, which was sent to the directors of neonatal respiratory ECMO centers., Result: The lowest birth weight and gestational age at which respondents would consider placing a neonate on ECMO were frequently below recommended thresholds. There was wide variability in respondents' willingness to place neonates on ECMO in the presence of conditions such as intraventricular hemorrhage and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. The number of respondents who would never seek to override parental refusal of ECMO was equal to the number who would always do so., Conclusion: Significant variability exists in the selection criteria for neonatal ECMO and in how conflicts with parents over the provision of ECMO are resolved.

Potential conflict exists when parents refuse a medical intervention for their child that the physician feels obligated to provide. For the anticipated delivery of a preterm newborn, this conflict might exist if the parents refuse resuscitation. At borderline viability, most neonatologists are likely to respect the parents' wishes. However, there will be some gestational age threshold above which the physician will feel compelled to resuscitate despite parental refusal, and will be ethically justified in doing so. The location of that threshold should be determined by the application of sound ethical reasoning, rather than relying on habit or arbitrary standards. That reasoning should include an honest assessment of the benefits and burdens to the child, short-term and long-term, of attempted resuscitation, made in light of relevant mortality and morbidity data. However, a rational analysis will also require consideration of whether the patient's best interest standard should be strictly applied, or whether the interests of others, such as family members, should also be taken into account.

Most neonatologists believe there is a minimal gestational age, below which it is appropriate to refuse to provide resuscitation or intensive care. Determination of this threshold should involve knowledge of the outcome data, but also an understanding of the potential for misuse of these data. In particular, there is a risk of deception, of the parents and of ourselves, due to the uncertainty of the true gestational age, and the "self-fulfilling prophecy" that may occur when a center refuses to try below a certain gestational age because they have had no survivors below that age. Finally, any refusal to treat requires ethical justification. Concepts such as futility and patient's best interest should play a role in the determination of the gestational age threshold, applied in light of the data's inherent weaknesses., (Journal of Perinatology (2005) 25, 685-689. doi:10.1038/sj.jp.7211395.)

Antenatal exposure to corticosteroids is known to increase the pulmonary compliance of preterm animals. We wished to determine whether this was due solely to alteration in lung surfactant content. Rabbit does were injected with either vehicle alone or betamethasone on days 25 and 26 of gestation. Fetuses were delivered at 27 days and given either 50% lactated Ringer's or intratracheal natural surfactant prior to their first breath. Fetuses were mechanically ventilated at a tidal volume of 12 ml/kg for 60 min with periodic compliance measurements. Following ventilation an alveolar lavage was collected for phosphatidylcholine determination. Some fetuses did not undergo ventilation but had saline compliance studies instead. Fetuses given intratracheal surfactant had a higher dynamic compliance than fetuses exposed to antenatal corticosteroids (0.55 +/- 0.01 versus 0.48 +/- 0.02 ml/cm H2O/kg, respectively). Fetuses exposed to antenatal corticosteroids and given intratracheal surfactant had a dynamic compliance (0.66 +/- 0.02) that was greater than those exposed to either single therapy. This was found despite an alveolar surfactant content equal to that in fetuses receiving intratracheal surfactant alone. Saline compliance at birth was significantly greater for fetuses exposed antenatally to steroids. These data imply the existence of a nonsurfactant mechanism by which antenatal corticosteroids increase fetal pulmonary compliance.