Informed consent in pediatric anesthesiology

Informed consent for pediatric anesthesia is unique because it is (1) obtained from surrogates (ie, parents) rather than from the patient and (2) sought after parents have authorized the surgical intervention. There are limited data on how pediatric anesthesia informed and consent discussions are conducted. The purpose of this study was to characterize the content of preanesthesia informed consent discussions and assess their impact on parent recall and understanding.

We conducted a cross-sectional observational study at a tertiary pediatric hospital. We audio-recorded and transcribed preanesthesia consent discussions between pediatric anesthesia providers and parents of children undergoing elective surgery. Parents were recruited on the day of surgery and completed a survey postdiscussion to assess their recall and perceived understanding. We used directed content analysis to identify 7 informed consent elements: (i) description of the plan; mention of (ii) alternatives, (iii) risks, and (iv) benefits; (v) discussion of uncertainties; (vi) assessment of comprehension; and (vii) solicitation of a decision. We used multivariable logistic regression to explore the association between discussions that included 3 informed consent elements (description of plan, mention of risks, and mention of benefits) and parent recall and understanding of these elements.

We analyzed 97 discussions involving 41 different anesthesia providers. The element most frequently included in preanesthesia discussions was a description of the plan (100%); the least frequently included was decision solicitation (18%). Seventy-one percent of discussions included ≥5 informed consent elements and 70% included a description of the plan, mention of risks, and mention of benefits. Parental recall of these 3 informed consent elements was associated with their inclusion in the preanesthesia discussion (75% vs 34%), and more parents understood all 3 elements if they had reported (vs not reported) recall of all 3 elements (97% vs 53%).

Most pediatric preanesthesia discussions include ≥5 informed consent elements and describe the plan, mention risks, and mention benefits. Inclusion of these latter 3 consent elements was associated with parental recall of these elements but not understanding.