Utilities of the post-anesthesia state derived by the standard gamble method in surgical patients.
BACKGROUND
There are no published utilities for the post-anesthesia state obtained by the standard gamble method (SG).


METHODS
We obtained utilities for postoperative pain, nausea, vomiting, urinary retention and myalgia from 100 adults prior to elective surgery using SG.


RESULTS
20% of volunteer participants could not demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of the SG process. Median utilities for each adverse effect were all very close to 1.0, and no statistically significant differences were found between them.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that the avoidance of anesthesia related side effects and pain is not viewed by patients prior to surgery as being worthy of the taking of even a miniscule risk of death. This may affect the decision to utilize anesthesia techniques that trade a lower incidence of common side effects for a very low but finite risk of a catastrophic complication.
Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G3, Canada. srashiq@ualberta.ca
Saifudin
S
Rashiq
Diane
D
Edlund
Bruce D
BD
Dick
D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003657:Decision Making; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019990:Perioperative Care; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016055:Urinary Retention / Q000139:chemically induced