How Informed Is Your Informed Consent: Evaluating Differences Between Resident and Attending Obtained Consents for...

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Informed Consent
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Informed consent variability exists among surgeons, especially trainees.
• The content of surgical consents for cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) differs between residents and attending surgeons.

Approach:

• A retrospective analysis of 334 cholecystectomy patient records was performed.
• Consents were evaluated for specific procedure details and potential complications, comparing documentation by residents versus attendings.

Key Points:

• Residents were more likely than attendings to include details on bile duct injury, intraoperative cholangiogram, nearby structure injury, reoperation, and bile leak in consents.
• A significant portion of consents lacked specific details, such as intraoperative cholangiogram (53%) and bile leak (81%).

Conclusions:

• Resident surgeons document more potential complications in cholecystectomy consents than attending surgeons.
• Surgical experience does not correlate with the comprehensiveness of informed consent documentation.
• Standardized education on informed consent content is recommended to reduce variability.