EP537 - Revolutionizing informed consent: A quantum leap in precision for chronic pain awareness in inguinal hernia operations through electronic consent

Abstract Aim The study aimed to assess the extent to which clinicians provide information to patients about the occurrence of chronic pain during consultations, recognizing it's significance as a prevalent postoperative complication following inguinal hernia repair. Methods Data were gathered by two teams at distinct time periods within the same trust. One team utilized the standard paper-based consenting method, while the other employed a recently introduced electronic consenting process. A comparison of these approaches was undertaken to derive the study's results, making it a retrospective and comparative analysis. Results An investigation on this subject conducted initially uncovered that 84% of patients were not informed about the risk of chronic pain and did not provide consent for this common occurrence via standard paper based method. Consequently, the study recommended the implementation of an e-consent facility in the Trust. This facility would feature a template encompassing all pertinent risks associated with inguinal hernia surgery. Following the introduction of e-consent later, we conducted a subsequent analysis on patients who underwent inguinal hernia surgery. The findings indicated a notable improvement, with 98% of patients having given their consent for chronic pain.Manner of consentingPatient who was informed about chronic pain during consentingPatient who wasn't informed about chronic pain during consentingPaper consent16%84%e-Consent982% Conclusion The incorporation of chronic pain as a potential complication in the consenting process for inguinal hernia surgery has seen improvement since the introduction of the e-consent software. However, to achieve full compliance, there is a need for further enhancement and increased utilization of the e-consent software.