Knee and Hip TEP Surgery: The Surgeons' Obligation to Give Information

The German Civil Code (BGB) establishes in § 630e BGB formal and content-related requirements to provide the patient with a solid fundament of information. This is necessary for a valid informed consent. Without it, the physician is liable for the violation of the patients' physical integrity and his right to self-determination. According to German jurisprudence, this shall even apply when the treatment was conducted duly and without any complications. Therefore, it is astonishing that the correct way of giving information is neither taught in medical school nor in the residency. In practice, supervisors expect that young assistant doctors will be familiar with the correct procedure. As a result, many mistakes are made, even though these are easy to avoid. In this article, we point out all relevant information and the correct way of presenting this, using the example of hip/knee TEP operations.