Abstract
Emergency abdominal surgery is sometimes done without confirmed diagnosis, so informed consent in emergency surgery of necessity differs from that for elective surgery. Particularly in intensive and critical care centers, the physical condition of patients is not always known, and in some cases, family members cannot be contacted preoperatively. In the physician-patient relationship, the discretionary power of physicians thus becomes much greater in such cases. To build favorable physician-patient relationships, informed consent must be viewed as an ongoing process and patient consent must be sought postoperatively.
