ethics question

[lackli]

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So I had something come up in my clinical rotation that reminding me of an ethical question in one of the review books/qbank that I just can't place.

real world today: went into the OR for a midline incisional hernia repair and found another hernia more laterally. Did not want to wake up patient to get consent to fix lateral hernia as well. Called pt's husband and got verbal consent from him to proceed. Seemed reasonable given the costs/benefits of putting the patient back to sleep for another procedure and low risks associated.

question from my vague memories: gynecological surgery, go in for a tubal ligation/benign procedure and find a mass that looks malignant. The question asks how to proceed from the consent standpoint i.e. do something about the mass, call relative, wake up patient to talk about it.

Does anyone closer to step 1 studying recall coming across this question and what the answer was?

Thanks! It's just been bothering me a little as to what the "answer on a test" is.

 

[MrBigglesworth]

You have to wake them up/get informed consent from them because it is a separate procedure.

On the other hand, if you open them up and its an EMERGENCY like an ectopic pregnancy, then you can remove it.

 

[Morsetlis]

Is the emergency-ness of a procedure objective or subjective?

 

[johndoe3344]

The patient's husband would have zero relevance (on a board exam) because your patient is still alive and kicking (provided she gets out of anesthesia) right? The next of kin/husband/etc. only matters when your patient is unable to communicate her own wishes, right?