Patient-reported Limitations to Surgical Buy-in: A Qualitative Study of Patients Facing High-risk Surgery.

Objective: To characterize how patients buy-in to treatments beyond the operating room and what limits they would place on additional life-supporting treatments.

Background: During a high-risk operation, surgeons generally assume that patients buy-in to life-supporting interventions that might be necessary postoperatively. How patients understand this agreement and their willingness to participate in additional treatment is unknown.