Medical treatment of patients always entails the risk of undesired complications or side effects. This is particularly poignant in surgery as both the disease to be treated and the surgical intervention to be performed can be life threatening. Hence, it is essential to inform a surgical patient in detail about the expectations desired, but also the possible undesired outcomes and complications, especially when new surgical techniques are introduced. Apart from communication about available evidence regarding treatment options, the patient's preference needs to be invoked to make sure the surgeon's advice matches the patient's preference. Shared decision-making (SDM) invokes the bidirectional communication between physicians and patients required to involve the patient's preference in the eventual treatment choice. SDM is considered as an essential part of evidence-based medicine as it helps determine whether the available evidence on the possible benefits and harms of treatment options match the patient's characteristics and preferences. This paper will exemplify what SDM is, why it is important, and how it can be performed in surgical practice. Several tools to facilitate SDM are presented.
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BMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, Bilthoven, 3720 BA, The Netherlands.
HIV self-sampling and -testing (HIVSS/ST) reduces testing barriers and potentially reaches populations who may not test otherwise. In the Netherlands, at-home HIV tests became commercially available around 2016, but data on user experiences are limited. This study aimed to explore characteristics of users and their experiences with HIVSS/ST.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiography (Lond)
January 2025
Radiotherapy, Leeds Cancer Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK; Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK; NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds, UK.
Introduction: Using non-medicinal oral contrast agents may aid safe delivery of magnetic resonance image-guided (MR-guided) radiotherapy by improving the ability to visualise and avoid excessive radiation dose to adjacent bowel/stomach. This scoping review aims to map the literature on non-medicinal oral contrasts used in upper-abdominal diagnostic or therapeutic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to find potential candidates for employing in MR-guided radiotherapy and identify gaps in knowledge for further study.
Methods: A scoping review of non-medicinal oral contrast used in upper-abdominal MRI research followed a pre-defined protocol based on Arksey and O'Malley's framework.
BMJ Open
January 2025
Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester College of Medicine Biological Sciences and Psychology, Leicester, UK.
Objectives: To explore patients' and carers' preferences for postdischarge surgical wound monitoring.
Design: Explanatory mixed methods study with an online survey followed by online interviews.
Setting: The online survey was distributed via the Cardiothoracic Interdisciplinary Research Network and cardiac surgery patient and public involvement groups in London and Leicester, UK.
Ann Vasc Surg
January 2025
Division of Vascular Surgery, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA.
Objectives: The population in the U.S., and across the world is aging rapidly which warrants an assessment of the safety of surgical approaches in elderly individuals to better risk stratify and inform surgeons' decision making for optimal patient care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ AAPOS
January 2025
Johns Hopkins University Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address:
Background Recommendations regarding long-term postoperative activity are intended to prevent adverse events, but no common policy or best practice exists among ophthalmologists for pediatric patients. We surveyed ophthalmologists on their postoperative guidelines after the one-month postoperative period following childhood cataract and glaucoma surgeries. Methods A 28-question anonymous Qualtrics survey was distributed via listservs and social media.
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