title: Evaluation of patient's understanding and recall of the consent process after open inguinal hernia repairs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Open inguinal Hernia repair is one of the most commonly performed operative procedure. Despite this, hernia repair can cause considerable morbidity and rarely mortality. Some of these complications such as chronic pain and testicular complications can be easily disregarded, thereby leading to medico-legal claims being made. As a result, the quality of consent process is crucial in increasing patient satisfaction after inguinal hernia repair. This is a prospective study exploring patient's recall of the consenting practice after elective open inguinal hernia repairs at our institute.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who had an elective, Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair between January to October 2009 were identified. Patients were contacted by telephone after 3 days and a questionnaire was completed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 86 patients included in our study. The male:female ratio was 70:16 whilst the average age was 63.2+/-19.2 years. 42 patients stated pain relief as the main indication for having the operation whilst 30 patients feared incarceration or strangulation as the main indication. Infection was the complication recalled most by patients in our study (31 patients), followed by bleeding (30 patients). Only 2 patients were aware of developing potential chronic pain and 10 patients realised the potential for testicular problems. 57 patients were aware of having a mesh inside their groin. There were 61 patients who were aware of laparoscopic approach as an alternative to open inguinal hernia repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recall of consent is very poor. As a result, repeating the information stated and providing additional resource may reinforce the consent process.
authors: Department of General Surgery, North Middlesex University Hospital, Sterling Way, London N18 1XL, UK. mohsinuzzaman@yahoo.co.uk
authors: Mohammed M
authors: MM
authors: Uzzaman
authors: Sidhartha
authors: S
authors: Sinha
authors: Behnam
authors: B
authors: Shaygi
authors: Parveen
authors: P
authors: Vitish-Sharma
authors: Sofronis
authors: S
authors: Loizides
authors: Fiona
authors: F
authors: Myint
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires