Obtaining and documenting informed patient consent prior to surgery is of vital importance, but both the process and documentation of consent can be inadequate.

Today at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Francisco, physicians from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reported on a study of a procedure-based consent form they have developed to enhance and improve this process.

“Appropriate physician conduct in medical/legal matters begins with the informed consent process. This leads to an understanding of the patient’s diagnosis, the planned procedure, the therapeutic alternatives – both medical and surgical, and the inherent procedural risks,” reported Douglas Kondziolka, M.D., Peter J. Jannetta Professor and vice-chairman of neurological surgery, and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “It has been argued that most surgeons do not devote appropriate importance to informed consent in their daily duties. The patient consent procedure we developed facilitates patient discussion and we validated this process by surveying our patients on various elements of the consent process.”

In the study, 120 consecutive patients were evaluated….

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“The practice-specific consent form we developed is modular and simple to use. Because it is written as a check list, it aids the surgeon in discussing each issue with the patient so that all of the important topics are covered,” Dr. Kondziolka said. “Our study involved questions asked in an open-ended format, but the patients had a finite list of items to recall. A secretary, with no medical background or pretenses, administered the questionnaire. In this way, we avoided the potential pitfall of having a physician misrepresent any portion of the informed consent process. We believe this method to obtain and document informed consent should be considered for use by physicians.”

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