Department of Anesthesiology, Good Samaritan Hospital, San Jose, California.
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Anesth Analg. 2024 May 1;138(5):980-991. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006669. Epub 2023 Oct 6.
Respect for patient autonomy is a pillar of medical ethics, manifested predominantly through informed consent. Mandatory (routine) nonconsented preoperative urine pregnancy testing does not adequately respect patient autonomy, is potentially coercive, and has the potential to cause harm medically, psychologically, socially, and financially. Inaccuracies in pregnancy testing can result in false-positive and false-negative results, especially in early pregnancy. There is substantial scientific evidence that anesthesia is not harmful to the fetus, raising the question of whether pregnancy testing provides substantial benefit to the patient. Not performing a preanesthesia pregnancy test has not been associated with significant medicolegal consequences. We review the ethical implications of mandatory preanesthesia pregnancy testing in light of these facts.
尊重患者自主权是医学伦理的基石，主要体现在知情同意上。强制性（常规）未经同意的术前尿妊娠试验不能充分尊重患者自主权，具有潜在的强制性，并且有可能在医学、心理、社会和经济方面造成伤害。妊娠试验可能出现不准确的假阳性和假阴性结果，尤其是在早期妊娠。有大量科学证据表明麻醉对胎儿无害，这就提出了一个问题，即妊娠试验是否对患者有实质性的益处。不进行麻醉前妊娠试验并没有与重大医疗法律后果相关联。鉴于这些事实，我们审查了强制性麻醉前妊娠试验的伦理含义。
