Patient selection

Patient selection is the process by which an evaluating surgeon decides whether to accept responsibility for the care and treatment of a potential patient. It is assumed the physician has the requisite knowledge to assess the anatomic disorder and the technical ability to render appropriate care if needed. The aim of this article is to help the less experienced health care professional sort out which patients, either by true psychological disorder or personality and behavioral traits, pose the highest risk of a poor outcome. An unsatisfactory outcome can be measured not only by failure to resolve the disorder but also by expenditure of a disproportionate amount of practice resources in achieving resolution of the problem.