This is the Scientific Surgery Archive, which contains all randomized clinical trials in surgery that have been identified by searching the top 50 English language medical journal issues since January 1998. Compiled by Jonothan J. Earnshaw, former Editor-in-Chief, BJS

Systematic review of the impact of patient death on surgeons. BJS 2019; 106: 1429-1432.

Published: 2nd August 2019

Authors: G.‐R. Joliat, N. Demartines, E. Uldry

Background

The death of a patient is experienced at some time by most surgeons. The aim of this review was to use existing literature to establish how surgeons have dealt with the death of patients.

Method

A systematic review of the medical literature was performed. MEDLINE/PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched for qualitative and quantitative studies on surgeon reactions when facing death or a dying patient. This systematic review was performed following the recommendations of the Cochrane collaboration and reported following the PRISMA guidelines. Individual and interview‐based opinions were summarized and synthesized.

Results

An initial search found 652 articles. After exclusion of articles that did not satisfy the inclusion criteria, 20 articles remained and seven were included. Two of these articles were personal opinion of the author and five were interviews or surveys. The main findings were that facing death routinely induces a strong psychological burden and that surgeons are more at risk than the general population to develop psychological morbidity.

Conclusion

Although it is a frequent and emotional subject in the surgical world, the impact of patient death on surgeons is not abundantly studied in the literature. Dealing with patient death or taking care of a dying patient might have long‐lasting psychological impact on surgeons.

Full text

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Authors: J. H. H. Olsen, S. Öberg, K. Andresen, T. W. Klausen, J. Rosenberg

Original article

Outcomes of surgery for benign and malignant adrenal disease from the British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons’ national registry. BJS 2019; 106: 1495-1503.

Authors: N. Patel, R. J. Egan, B. R. Carter, D. M. Scott‐Coombes, M. J. Stechman, A. Afzaal et al.

Systematic review of the impact of patient death on surgeons. BJS 2019; 106: 1429-1432.

Background

Method

Results

Conclusion

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