How Should Surgical Palliative Success Be Defined?

Abstract

Palliative surgery is often defined as surgical intervention with intent to improve a patient's quality of life by relieving suffering secondary to symptoms of advanced disease. In the context of shared decision making about palliative surgery intervention, tensions can arise between patient (or surrogate) and surgeon, who might not share goals and values. This article suggests that a surgeon's clinical and ethical duty is to identify goals of care, including those related to quality of life, from a patient's perspective and to consider how to achieve them.