ABSTRACT. Brain death can occur especially as a violent unnatural death, mainly in severe traumatic brain injury, a frequent neurosurgical pathology. Such injuries are common in specialized neurosurgical services mostly in patients with a poor prognosis or with no chance of survival. The neurosurgeon on call is often faced up to the dilemma: to operate a patient whose brain is dead and fight in a war that has already been lost, or to respect humans and the dignity of their death. Taking the right decision is actually the key competence for a surgeon, most difficult even after long years of surgical practice. The neurosurgeon’s work actually includes the effort to support life and bring the necessary dignity to death, the respect for life involving the medical and psychological assistance and extending after death in the respect for the diseased. pp. 34–38
Keywords: dignity of death; traumatic brain injury; brain death; neurosurgical indications