Patients' understanding of technical terms used during the pre-anaesthetic consultation

Abstract

The article examines the adequacy of patients' knowledge on the technical terms used by anaesthetists to ensure that the patient will have adequate information about anaesthesia and the associated procedures during administration. In a study conducted in two tertiary hospitals in South Australia, 45 percent of the patients have no knowledge on one or more of the terms used during the consultations. The most commonly misunderstood terms are also cited, including "reflux," "aspiration," "allergy" and "anaphylaxis."