title: Tragic knowledge: truth telling and the maintenance of hope in surgery.
abstract: Surgeons often are faced with the challenge of balancing truth telling and the maintenance of hope in the setting of a poor prognosis. This ethical dilemma is informed by conflicting appeals to principles of autonomy and nonmaleficence, where a patient's right to be told important medical information must be weighed against the potential harm that may result from the knowledge of an unfavourable diagnosis. Truth telling in surgery raises questions on the nature of truth itself, how much information ought to be shared, what information can be withheld, and how surgeons should share tragic knowledge with patients. This paper will address these questions and provide some insight on how surgeons may navigate the sharing of tragic knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, megha_suri@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Megha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKneally
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Devon
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D065026:Hope; D006801:Humans; D028701:Patient Rights; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D011368:Professional-Family Relations / Q000941:ethics; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D066231:Surgeons / Q000941:ethics*; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics
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