For surgeons and patients, deciding if and when to operate can be challenging. Often, the way surgeons communicate about these decisions doesn’t make things any easier for themselves or their patients. And, surgeons often spend the majority of their conversations with patients describing anatomical details and exactly how they plan to ‘fix it’, with little discussion of what that ‘fix’ will do for a patient’s overall goals.

Instead, what if your surgeon told you that the operation she was discussing could help with only 4 things: live longer, feel better, prevent disability, or obtain a diagnosis? And, what if your surgeon openly discussed the expected ‘bad stuff’ of post-operative recovery, instead of rotely reciting a list of possible complications?

We invited Gretchen Schwarze and Justin Clapp to discuss with us these communication strategies, which are the focus of a series of 4 Viewpoints recently published in JAMA Surgery. I love this series of articles because each presents a component of a practical, patient-centered approach to patient-surgeon communication and decision making, and language surgeons (and surgical trainees) can start using in their next patient visit.

We hope you enjoy this episode. Take a look at some of these links to learn more:

• Innovations in Surgical Communication series:

• Provide Your Opinion, Don’t Hide It

• Focus on the Goals of Surgery

• Promote Deliberation, Not Technical Education

• Present the Downsides of Surgery, Not Just Risks

• Dr. Schwarze’s article, “Identifying Patterns in Preoperative Communication about High-Risk Surgical Intervention'' in which surgeons used “fix-it” language in 92% of conversations and did not establish an overall goal of treatment 80% of the time.

• South Park “Underpants Gnomes”

• Orthopaedics vs Anesthesia

 

By: Alexis Colley