Given the technological utopianism that shapes medical headlines, surgeons (and their patients) might be excused for embracing the fiction that with sufficient National Institutes of Health funding, we might all get out of life alive.² Yet surgical practice is rooted in the reality that despite our best efforts to preserve function and extend life, death comes to us all. And when it does, patient priorities often shift such that what matters most can only be measured through subjective perceptions of support, communication, and the care of one human being for another. Such patient-reported outcomes have been slow to arrive in surgery, but the growing focus on value-based care will only increase their relevance.

鉴于塑造了医学头条的技术乌托邦主义，外科医生（及其患者）可能被宽容为虚构的观点，即只要拥有足够的美国国立卫生研究院资金，我们都可能活命。²然而，外科手术植根于这样一个现实：尽管我们尽了最大的努力来保持功能并延长寿命，但死亡仍笼罩着我们所有人。而且，一旦发生这种情况，患者的优先级通常会发生变化，从而最重要的事情只能通过主观的支持，沟通和对一个人对另一个人的关怀的看法来衡量。此类患者报告的结局在外科手术中进展缓慢，但越来越重视基于价值的护理只会增加其相关性。