Informed Consent

Informed Consent

Consent may be implied (i.e. the patient willingly cooperates with the procedure), or it may be expressed in written form. All competent patients have the right to give or withhold consent for treatment or examination. To obtain consent, the patient must be given sufficient details and information about the procedure to enable a proper decision to be taken. Any procedure undertaken without the patient's consent may be considered an assault in a civil court.

Information

The patient and/or family need sufficient information to allow them to make a considered judgment. This should include:

• A description of the proposed procedure.
• Discussion of alternative options.
• Discussion of the possible complications and their likelihood.
• Discussion of the benefits versus risks.

After the preoperative evaluation, the anesthesia plan can be completed and the fasting time before operation notified. The plan should list drug choices and doses in detail, as well as anticipated problem. Many variations on a given plan may be acceptable, but the trainee and the supervising anesthesia provider should agree in advance on the detail.