"Withholding Treatment" is a descriptor in the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus,
MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). Descriptors are arranged in a hierarchical structure,
which enables searching at various levels of specificity.
Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.
| Descriptor ID |
D028761
|
| MeSH Number(s) |
E02.760.952 N02.421.585.952
|
| Concept/Terms |
Withholding Treatment- Withholding Treatment
- Treatment, Withholding
- Treatments, Withholding
- Withholding Treatments
- Cessation of Treatment
- Treatment Cessation
- Treatment Cessations
Withdrawing Treatment- Withdrawing Treatment
- Treatment, Withdrawing
- Treatments, Withdrawing
- Withdrawing Treatments
|
Below are MeSH descriptors whose meaning is more general than "Withholding Treatment".
Below are MeSH descriptors whose meaning is more specific than "Withholding Treatment".
This graph shows the total number of publications written about "Withholding Treatment" by people in this website by year, and whether "Withholding Treatment" was a major or minor topic of these publications.
To see the data from this visualization as text,
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| Year | Major Topic | Minor Topic | Total |
|---|
| 1996 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1998 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2000 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2005 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2006 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2008 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2013 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2015 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2020 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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Below are the most recent publications written about "Withholding Treatment" by people in Profiles.
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TNF antagonists withdrawal is not advised in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2025 Dec 02; 40(1):245.
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When Is Intensive Care Warranted for the Most Immature Infants? Am J Perinatol. 2026 Feb; 43(3):404-417.
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Recovery Potential in Patients After Cardiac Arrest Who Die After Limitations or Withdrawal of Life Support. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 03 03; 8(3):e251714.
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The Ethical Standard for End-of-Life Decisions for Unrepresented Patients. Am J Bioeth. 2025 Sep; 25(9):74-85.
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Safety and efficacy outcomes of early cessation of anti-PD1 therapy in patients 80?years or older: A retrospective cohort study. Cancer Lett. 2024 Aug 01; 596:217001.
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Functional Outcomes Over the First Year After Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in the Prospective, Longitudinal TRACK-TBI Study. JAMA Neurol. 2021 08 01; 78(8):982-992.
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Resumption of Cardiac Activity after Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Measures. N Engl J Med. 2021 01 28; 384(4):345-352.
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Early Discontinuation of Endocrine Therapy and Recurrence of Breast Cancer among Premenopausal Women. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 03 01; 27(5):1421-1428.
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Regulatory T cells for minimising immune suppression in kidney transplantation: phase I/IIa clinical trial. BMJ. 2020 10 21; 371:m3734.
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Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in extremely low gestational age neonates. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2021 May; 106(3):238-243.