The responsibility of operating room medical staff: a basic principle of patient safety

Medical complaints were exceptional 50 years ago. Nowadays, medical responsibility has become a cause of concern due to the increase in the number of complaints and their psychological impact, especially their effect on the physician-patient relationship. This relationship should be based on mutual trust and cannot exist when the dialogue between both parties centers on doubts, suspicion and distrust. The present article discusses the basic elements of surgical responsibility, its situational context, the criteria emanating from jurisprudence, and analysis of the technique of risk management as a rational preventive methodology of responsibility, both civil and penal, in health professionals involved in surgical activity.