Patient participation in the decision for replantation.

Abstract

It is widely accepted that medical decision making should consider the wishes of the patient. In contrast, traditional decision making in replantation has been based primarily on the expected functional outcome of the replantation as represented in the literature. Conflicts can occur when the patient seeks to exercise a positive right to replantation against the wishes of the surgeon. The field of decision science has developed a framework to study and consider this problem so that it can be applied to replantation. The concept of evidence-informed patient choice is applicable to replantation, but is tempered by several problems, including the need for decision making in an emergency situation.