Literature DB >> 29109656

Reply…Is it time to separate consent for anesthesia from consent for surgery?

Summit Bloria1.   

Abstract

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Year:  2017        PMID: 29109656      PMCID: PMC5672532          DOI: 10.4103/joacp.JOACP_160_17

Source DB:  PubMed          Journal:  J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol        ISSN: 0970-9185


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Sir, The article by Singh[1] made an interesting study and illuminated us on the very important topic of obtaining an informed consent before administering anesthesia. While the authors discussed the state of affairs in the developed countries, the situation in our country is all the more worse. A study conducted in 2013 to quantify awareness toward "anesthesia and anesthesiologist" in rural areas demonstrated that even with an extremely low threshold, only 36.4% of population could be classified as aware, and the most common source of their information about anesthesia was not anesthesiologist but surgeon.[2] Another survey in urban population revealed that < 50% of population knew of anesthesiology being a separate medical branch.[3] In a population which is unaware of the presence of anesthesiologist, thinking of obtaining a valid consent for administering anesthesia appears to be a distant dream. Even we, the anesthesiologists, appear to be unsure of what exactly constitutes a valid informed consent. A survey conducted among Indian anesthesiologists revealed that while 90% among them felt the need for a separate written informed consent for anesthesia, only 14% implemented this consent. Only less than half of them discussed with the patients the frequent complications of general anesthesia or the potential neurological complications of regional anesthesia.[4] Considering all these facts, I wonder whether the time indeed is ripe for us to dream of obtaining a separate consent for anesthesia, in Indian context at least.

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  4 in total

1.  Informed consent for anesthesia: a survey among Indian anesthesiologists.

Authors:  Priya Ranganathan; Vijaya Patil
Journal:  J Anesth       Date:  2011-05-13       Impact factor: 2.078

2.  Knowledge about Anaesthesia and Anaesthesiologist Amongst General Population in India.

Authors:  S K Mathur; S K Dube; Sunil Jain
Journal:  Indian J Anaesth       Date:  2009-04

3.  Is it time to separate consent for anesthesia from consent for surgery?

Authors:  Tejinder Singh Swaran Singh
Journal:  J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol       Date:  2017 Jan-Mar

4.  Rural perspective about anesthesia and anesthesiologist: A cross-sectional study.

Authors:  Pm Singh; Anil Kumar; Anjan Trikha
Journal:  J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol       Date:  2013-04
  4 in total

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