Rotimi O, Beatson K, Aderombi A, Lam W, Bajomo O, Kukreja N. Surgical consent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2020;
59:229-233. [PMID:
33052257 PMCID:
PMC7544629 DOI:
10.1016/j.amsu.2020.10.011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
During the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical practice may deviate with operative and non-operative management considered. Appropriate discussion of options with patients is paramount to quality surgical care. Intercollegiate and EAES guidelines recommend discussing and documenting risk of COVID-19 exposure in the consent process for patients undergoing surgery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Closed-loop audit of consent forms for patients undergoing emergency and elective surgical procedures. Interventions implemented included education of wider surgical teams. Data was collected during a one-week period for each cycle and analysed using Chi-squared test.
RESULTS
In cycle 1, 6/17 (35.3%) case notes documented discussion of COVID-19 risk. Following intervention, compliance improved to 23/29 (79.3%) cases in cycle 2 and 33/45 (73.3%) cases in cycle 3.
CONCLUSION
Pre-intervention, our consenting practice was non-compliant. Our interventions led to significant and sustained improvements in practice. We recommend provision of wider surgical team education to facilitate good consenting practice.
Collapse