[Patient information and obtaining informed consent in laparoscopic surgery]

Since the advent of laparoscopic surgery, the number of suits against surgeons has risen. One of the most frequent complaints is the lack of sufficient information. Physicians in France have a formal obligation to provide information in the contractual legal context established since 1936. This notion has been confirmed in several court cases. The requirement for patient informed consent has been confirmed by several decisions of the Appeals Court and is stated in the code of deontology. The value of classical oral information has been recently questioned in certain court cases. We analyse the current legal situation in France and try to define the content of information required in the case of laparoscopic surgery in addition to the way this information is provided and the means of obtaining informed consent. The information provided must be personalised. The patient must informed that laparoscopy remains a surgical operation. It is licit to warn the patient of predictable risks according to statistical probabilities, of the team's experience and of the patients own status including past history and psychological factors. A written statement may be prepared but must remain a document complementary to personalised oral information. The surgeon must obtain and assure good patient comprehension. The surgical community should publish risk rates in order for surgeons to have reliable references which can be used to define the notion of exceptional risk.