Skip to main content

Decision-Making from the Surgeon’s Perspective

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Difficult Decisions in Endocrine Surgery

Part of the book series: Difficult Decisions in Surgery: An Evidence-Based Approach ((DDSURGERY))

  • 667 Accesses

Abstract

Advances in the treatment of endocrine diseases have brought about an array of choices for surgeons and patients. Surgical decision-making involves a clinical recommendation as well as the process of “shared decision-making” in order to reach the best outcome for a particular patient. This first part of this chapter will discuss factors related to surgical recommendations, the use of evidence and the quality of recommendations. The second part will focus on key elements of shared decision and informed consent such as disclosure and understanding, and highlight patient and surgeon factors which affect this process. A model for ethical decision-making that takes into account medical indications, patient preferences, quality of life and contextual features is described. Special issues in surgical decision-making discussed such as genetics, pediatrics, and end-of-life decision-making are also considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Hall JC, Ellis C, Hamdorf J. Surgeons and cognitive processes. Br J Surg. 2003;90:10–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Francis DMA. Surgical decision making. ANZ J Surg. 2009;79:886–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bernstein M, Jain VK. Ethical decision-making. In: Ammar A, Bernstein M, editors. Neurosurgical ethics in practice: value-based medicine. Berlin: Springer; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Horng S, Miller F. Is placebo surgery unethical? N Engl J Med. 2002;347:137–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Carling T, Carty SE, Ciarleglio MM, Cooper DS, Doherty GM, Kim LT, et al. American Thyroid Association design and feasibility of a prospective randomized controlled trial of prophylactic central lymph node dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma. Thyroid. 2012;22:237–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Guyatt G, Haynes B, Jaeschke R, Cook DJ, Green L, Naylor CD, et al. Users’ guides to the medical literature XXV. Evidence-based medicine: principles for applying the users’ guides to patient care. J Am Med Assoc. 2000;284:1290–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lacaine F. Evidence-based medicine in surgical decision making. World J Surg. 2005;29:588–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Plato. The laws. Taylor AE, translator. London: Dent; 1934. p. 104–5.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Siegler M. Searching for moral certainty in medicine: a proposal for a new model of the doctor-patient encounter. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1981;57:56–69.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. National Research Council. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Barry MJ, Edgman-Levitan S. Shared decision making – the pinnacle of patient-centred care. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:780–1.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Making health care decisions. A report on the ethical and legal implications of informed consent in the patient-practitioner relationship, vol. 1; 1982. p. 31–9.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jonsen AR, Siegler M, Winslade WJ. Clinical ethics: a practical approach to ethical discussions in clinical medicine. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  14. McCullough LB, Jones JW, Brody BA. Informed consent: autonomous decision making of the surgical patient. In: McCullough LB, Jones JW, Brody BA, editors. Surgical ethics. New York: Oxford; 1998. p. 15–37.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Faden RR, Beauchamp TL. A history and theory of informed consent. New York: Oxford; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Rosovsky R. Consent to treatment: a practical guide. Boston: Little, Brown; 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. 6th ed. New York: Oxford; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Siegler M. Pascal’s wager and the hanging of crepe. N Engl J Med. 1975;23:853–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Stacey D, Bennett CL, Barry MJ, Col NF, Eden KB, Holmes-Rovner M, et al. Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011;10:CD001431.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Billings J, Zeitel L, Lukomnik J, Blank L, Newman AE, Carey TS. Impact of socioeconomic status on hospital use in New York City. Health Aff (Millwood). 1993;12:162–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Hofer TP, Wolfe RA, Tedeschi PJ, McMahon PJ. Use of community versus individual socioeconomic data in predicting variation in hospital use. Health Serv Res. 1998;33:243–59.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Cooper RA, Cooper MA, McGinley EL, Fan X, Rosenthal JT. Poverty, wealth and health care utilization: a geographic assessment. J Urban Health. 2012;89:828–47.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Wilson NP, Wilson FP, Neuman M, Epstein A, Bell R, Armstrong K, et al. Determinants of surgical decision making: a national survey. Am J Surg. 2013;206:970–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Rosenthal SM, Angelos P, Cooper DS, Fassler C, Finder SG, Hays MT, et al. Clinical and professional ethics guidelines for the practice of thyroidology. Thyroid. 2013;23:1203–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Devon KM, Lerner-Ellis JP, Ganai S, Angelos P. Ethics and genomic medicine, how to navigate decisions in surgical oncology. J Surg Oncol. 2015;111:1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Rosenthal MS, Diekema DS. Pediatric ethics guidelines for hereditary medullary thyroid cancer. Int J Pediatr Endocrinol. 2011;2011:847603.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Green RC, Berg JS, Grody WW, et al. ACMG recommendations for reporting of incidental findings in clinical exome and genome sequencing. Genet Med. 2013;15:565–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Incidental findings in clinical genomics: a clarification. Genet Med. 2013;15:664–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Sulmasy DP, Snyder JD. Substituted interests and best judgments. An integrated model of surrogate decision making. J Am Med Assoc. 2010;304:1946–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Peabody FW. The care of the patient. J Am Med Assoc. 1927;88:877–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Devon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Devon, K. (2018). Decision-Making from the Surgeon’s Perspective. In: Angelos, P., Grogan, R. (eds) Difficult Decisions in Endocrine Surgery. Difficult Decisions in Surgery: An Evidence-Based Approach. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92860-9_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92860-9_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92858-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92860-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics