Following surgery, some patients suffer distress, disappointment, regret, poor adjustment, and poor quality-of-life. Surgeons may define ‘success’ based on objective clinical outcomes, but patients’ perceptions of surgical success rely primarily on a comparison to their initial expectations. We review the literature on the relationship between patients’ surgical expectations and psychosocial outcomes and attempt to resolve a conflict in the literature. Specifically, we propose that conflicting conclusions regarding the merits of optimism primarily stem from differing methodological approaches by researchers in the field. Studies that examine preoperative expectations in isolation typically conclude that optimism is positively associated with beneficial psychosocial outcomes. Studies that compare preoperative expectations to objective surgical outcomes typically conclude that optimism, particularly unrealistic optimism, is associated with detrimental psychosocial outcomes. As a whole, the evidence strongly supports an association between optimistic expectations and positive psychosocial outcomes following surgery if those expectations are based in reality. If preoperative optimism ultimately turns out to be unrealistic, however, it is likely to be a postoperative liability.

中文翻译：

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患者应该对手术乐观吗？解决矛盾的文学

手术后，一些患者感到痛苦，失望，遗憾，适应不良和生活质量差。外科医生可能会根据客观临床结果来定义“成功”，但是患者对手术成功的看法主要取决于与他们最初期望的比较。我们回顾了有关患者手术期望与社会心理结果之间关系的文献，并试图解决文献中的矛盾。具体来说，我们提出关于乐观的优点的矛盾结论主要源于该领域研究人员的不同方法论方法。孤立地检查术前期望的研究通常得出结论，乐观与有益的社会心理结果呈正相关。将术前预期与客观手术结果进行比较的研究通常得出结论，乐观情绪，尤其是不切实际的乐观情绪，与有害的社会心理后果相关。总体而言，证据强烈支持手术后的乐观预期与积极的社会心理结果之间的关联如果这些期望是基于现实的。但是，如果手术前的乐观最终被证明是不现实的，那很可能是术后的责任。