Consistently inconsistent – an audit of laparoscopic cholecystectomy consent practice

Abstract

Purpose

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most commonly performed general surgical operations and is associated with several potentially serious post‐operative complications. Informed consent is vital to avoid patient misunderstanding of risk and subsequent costly litigation. Consent practice at the authors' hospital was audited with the aim of investigating the quality of consent and assessing the impact of the introduction of a detailed patient information leaflet.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, the consent forms of 200 patients were examined; 100 patient consent forms were selected before and 100 after the introduction of a pre‐operative patient information leaflet, and retrospectively analysed.

Findings

Consultant staff obtained only 27 per cent of consent; 64 per cent of consent was taken on the morning of surgery. The most common risks mentioned were bleeding, infection, thrombo‐embolic risks and conversion to open. Other complications were mentioned inconsistently, with only 2 per cent of patients having documented evidence of receiving the information leaflet.

Originality/value

The authors demonstrate that consent for laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains inconsistent. The introduction of an information leaflet did not improve the documentation of risk required for informed consent.

Citation

Stubbs, B.M., Pesic‐Smith, J., Sikka, S., Drye, E., Khan, F. and Lovett, B. (2012), "Consistently inconsistent – an audit of laparoscopic cholecystectomy consent practice", Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 307-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777271211273198