Les accompagnants sont-ils concernés par l'information délivrée au patient en consultation préanesthésique ?

We designed a prospective, descriptive, observational study to assess the frequency of accompanying persons during the preoperative anesthesiology visit and to know how they shared the information delivered to patients. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 180 patients scheduled for surgery at a university hospital: 52% of the patients were assisted by another person-a spouse (51%), a relative (ascendant, descendant and collateral) (25%), a life partner (18%) or a friend (6%) ; 40% of the patients shared the information received during the visit with a relative when they were back home. The information form published by the French Society of Anesthesiologists (SFAR) was read by 69% of the patients. A relative, most commonly a spouse, read it in 43% of the cases, less frequently when they did not participate to the visit. Patients do not necessarily relate explanations given during the preoperative anesthesiology visit to their relatives, leaving them unaware of the procedural risk. We suggest that the presence of an accompanying person should be systematically reported in the patient anesthesia file.