Informed consent practices in oral and maxillofacial surgery setups - an audit report

To evaluate the existing practices of obtaining and documenting informed consent in cases of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2017 at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery departments of five teaching hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised patients who underwent surgery under general anaesthesia. Data was collected using questionnaire-based interviews a day after the surgery in each case regarding multiple aspects of the informed consent practices. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.

Of the 100 patients, 58(58%) were males and 42(42%) were females, while 81(81%) were adults aged >18 years. In 42(42%) cases, the consent document was signed by the patient, and by a relative in 38(38%) cases. In the remaining 20(20%) cases, only verbal consent was taken. In 54(54%) cases nursing staff and in 46(46%) cases residents took the consent. Most patients were informed about nature of their disease 87(87%), proposed treatment 86(86%) and type of anaesthesia 100(100%). Fewer patients were informed about any alternative treatments 38(38%), and possible complications of the surgery 51(51%) or anaesthesia 26(26%). Overall, 44(44%) patients did not fully understand the written information, and 23(23%) said they were encouraged to ask questions.

The quality of informed consent practices was found to be sub-optimal in oral and maxillofacial surgery setups.