https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.197

Incapacità di alimentazione ed idratazione autonoma: un confronto fra il neonato, il lattante e il soggetto in stato vegetativo

Vol. 59 No. 5 (2010)
Published: October 30, 2010
Idratazione e alimentazione artificiale, stato vegetativo, neonato, qualità della vita / Artificial nutrition and hydration, vegetative state, newborn, quality of life
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Authors

Daniele De Luca
dm.deluca@fastwebnet.it
Specialista in Pediatria, indirizzo Neonatologia e Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Divisione di Neonatologia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy.
Andrea Virdis
Dottore di ricerca in Bioetica, Istituto di Bioetica, Italy.
Maria Luisa Di Pietro
Professore Associato di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni, Istituto di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
All'interno dell'ampio quadro assistenziale della persona in stato vegetativo (SV), alimentazione e idratazione artificiale rappresentano un aspetto di fondamentale importanza, similmente a quanto accade nell'ambito dell'assistenza rivolta a neonati e più in generale a lattanti. Poichè spesso l'assenza di funzioni fisiologiche o di relazione con l'esterno vengono addotte per giustificare l'interruzione delle procedure assistenziali nelle persone in SV, l'articolo intende affrontare la questione della doverosità dell'idratazione e della alimentazione artificiale in tali persone, attraverso un confronto fra le diverse "funzioni" vitali, fisiologiche o comportamentali e relazionali presenti sia nei soggetti in SV sia nei neonati e nei lattanti. Alla luce di tale confronto, si evince come la sola ragione per cui possa essere erroneamente sostenuta la liceità dell'interruzione della alimentazione nei soggetti in SV è di natura ideologica e non scientifica.
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Within the broad framework of the care for the person in vegetative state (VS), artificial nutrition and hydration have a fundamental importance, similarly to what happens in the assistance given to newborns and to unweaned infants. As the absence of physiological functions or relationships with the outside world are often given to justify the assistance withdrawal in subjects in VS, the article aims to address the issue of artificial nutrition and hydration dutifulness in these persons, through a comparison between the various vital, physiological "functions"or behavioral and social skills present both in the subject in VS and in newborns and infants. By the light of this comparison, it appears that the only reason that can wrongly support the legality of the nutrition withdrawal in the subjects in VS is ideological and not scientific.

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How to Cite

De Luca, D., Virdis, A., & Di Pietro, M. L. (2010). Incapacità di alimentazione ed idratazione autonoma: un confronto fra il neonato, il lattante e il soggetto in stato vegetativo. Medicina E Morale, 59(5). https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2010.197

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