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Chirurgia Del Piede 2006 December;30(3):147-51

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Preoperative information and patient relationship in foot surgery

Napoli V., Napoli E.

Dipartimento di Discipline Medico Chirurgiche Centro di Chirurgia del Piede Casa di Cura “Fornaca di Sessant” Facoltà di medicina e chirurgia Università degli Studi di Torino

The once paternalistic physician-patient relationship has changed radically today to become one of contractual informative type marked by respect for the patient’s desire to be adequately informed about his operation. On these bases is founded the “informed consent” whereby the patient authorizes the medical services that concern him and whose validity depends on respect for the rules codified by the Court of Cassation according to which information: a) forms part of the best practice of the physician; b) constitutes a veritable contractual duty; c) integrates the medical services performed; d) where omitted, might be a matter of professional responsibility and claims for damages. In foot surgery, preoperative information, in addition to respecting the rules dictated by the Court of Cassation, must in order to be adequate and exhaustive: a) provide the patient with the elements useful and necessary for supporting him in his decision to undergo surgery; b) include the possibility of modifying the scheduled operation during the actual intervention when the preoperative diagnosis cannot be specified; c) communicate prior to the operation the possibility of later interventions when evolutive type pathologies are involved; d) emphasize the postoperative situation insofar as it is complementary to surgery and decisive for its outcome.