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No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Bioethics and nutrition are essential issues in end of life, advanced dementia, life-sustaining therapies, permanent vegetative status, and unacceptably minimal quality of life.
Even though artificially administered nutrition AAN , for this type of health condition, does not improve quality of life and extension of life, and there is evidence of complications pulmonary and gastrointestinal , it has been used frequently.
For this reason, many times, this issue has been forgotten. The AAN has been an essential source of ethical concern and controversy. There is a conceptual doubt about AAN be or not be a medical treatment. It would be a form of nourishment, which constitutes primary care.
These principles should be used to guide the decision-making of healthcare professionals in collaboration with patients and their surrogates. This difficult decision about whether or not to prescribe AAN in patients with a poor prognosis and without benefits should be based on discussions with the bioethics committee, encouraging the use of advanced directives, education, and support for the patient, family, and health team, in addition to the establishment of effective protocols on the subject.
