Incidental findings during a surgical procedure-current practice and ethical implications.

AIM: Sometimes during an elective surgical procedure, an abnormality is found which is unrelated to the scheduled procedure. In many instances, immediate treatment of this unexpected pathology is in the patient's medical interests, however, specific patient consent has not been obtained. This study investigates current surgical practice when confronted by an incidental finding (IF), as well as surgeons' views on informed consent in this context.

METHOD: An online survey was sent to all practicing surgeons and surgical trainees within New Zealand. Respondents were presented with hypothetical scenarios involving IFs and asked to decide whether or not they would proceed with treatment. Opinion was sought on the factors influencing such decisions and the need for a clause within surgical consent documents to prompt discussion about IFs.

RESULTS: 151/450 (33.6%) surgeons and trainees responded. Immediate treatment was more likely with IFs of greater clinical significance, lower-risk procedures and where there was prior consent for IF treatment. A proportion of surgeons did not follow these trends. Although a great deal of variation exists in the way that IFs are dealt with in the consent process, the majority of respondents (111/129, 86%) favoured a clause within a consent form that prompts discussion and seeks consent for the treatment of IFs.

CONCLUSION: Responses to the IF scenarios were generally consistent with good practice. While variation in decision-making is to be expected, some decisions were concerning. Most surgeons agree that a clause within the consent form should trigger a discussion of IFs during the consent process.