INFORMED CONSENT IN ALL SURGICAL SPECIALTIES: FROM LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PATIENT SATISFACTION

D. Șerban, R. I. Spătaru, G. Vancea, S. A. Bălășescu, B. Socea, C. Tudor, A. M. Dascălu

Abstract: Daily practice is surgical specialties is characterized by an increased number and complexity of invasive procedures, while time pressure on the outpatient staff continues to grow. Proper informed consent is a legal and ethical imperative that is meant to protect patients who elect to undergo invasive medical procedures. The paper aims to review published articles on best practices in obtaining informed consent in surgical specialties and challenges encountered in current practice.
The current perspective moves away from the traditional medical paternalism to a reasonable patient (material risk) standard for disclosure. Although a full disclosure is not recommended, the patient has to be informed about the most frequent and most severe associated risks and the possible alternatives.
There are challenges regarding the IC process. Time pressure and insufficient understanding of the importance of an active dialogue between doctor and patient face ca often the informed consent is just the signing of a multi-page document, from which the patient does not understand much. Studies revealed that most legal cases are not due to failures in treatment, but due to failure in communication and are related to discrepancies between expected and achieved results and faulty information. Presently, there is an increased preoccupation to train doctors in adopting better practices during the inform consent process.
Conclusions. Informed consent process must be the base of a partnership between doctor and patient, in sharing the inherent risks associated with surgical procedures. Better-informed patients are more satisfied, have a higher commitment to their treatment, and demonstrate less tendency toward filing legal claims.
Keywords: informed consent, surgery, disclosure, self-determination, patient satisfaction