[Interpretation and memorization of information provided to the patient for parotidectomy]

A prospective analysis of patient memorization and perception of the preoperative information provided on the surgical risks related to parotidectomy for benign tumor.

A prospective study conducted in an academic tertiary care referral center. An inception cohort of 51 patients with a benign tumor of the parotid gland consecutively informed by the same surgeon over the period from 2003 to 2006. Analysis of the consequences of the preoperative information on the surgery-related risks, in terms of patient perception of the information and the degree of memorization.

After being informed on the risks related to surgery, 15.6% of patients declined surgery and 9.1% elected to wait 6 months on average before undergoing surgery. Among the patients who had a parotidectomy performed, 83.3% had a positive opinion and 33.3% had a negative opinion regarding the preoperative information delivered regarding the surgical related risks; 26.8% of patients simultaneously expressed a positive and a negative opinion. None of the patients remembered more than four out of the five main surgical risks; 64.3% of the patients remembered only one or two surgery-related risks, and 7.1% of the patients did not remember a single surgery-related risk. In addition, 83.3% of patients remembered the risk of facial nerve paralysis, 40.4% the risk of death, and 23.8% the risk of Frey's syndrome, while 14.2 and 2.3% of patients remembered the common risks related to surgery and the risk of neuroma, respectively. In univariate analysis, no significant statistical relation was noted between the variables under analysis and either patient memorization or perception of the various surgery-related risks related to parotidectomy.

Patient information regarding the surgical risks resulted in substantial stress for the patient and modified the patient-surgeon relation. This information caused a certain number of patients to decide not to follow the surgeon's advice.