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Practice Consideration
Transgender Patient Care (Practice Consideration)
Last AANA revision: 2023
Our paraphrased summary. The text below is our own condensed phrasing for board review, derived from the AANA Practice Manual document of the same name. The AANA document is the authoritative source — read it on aana.com for legally-binding language.
Transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse patients face barriers to care including misgendering, deadnaming, and lack of clinician knowledge. Provider competence + cultural sensitivity essential for safe perioperative care.
Key points
- 1.Use patient's stated name + pronouns from first interaction; verify with patient if uncertain
- 2.Anatomic considerations: post-mastectomy chest, post-genital reconstruction, breast augmentation positioning, packers/binders
- 3.Hormone therapy: estrogen ↑ VTE risk (consider perioperative hold); testosterone ↑ erythrocytosis
- 4.Specific procedures: gender-affirming surgery (chest masculinization, vaginoplasty, phalloplasty) — long, complex, multimodal pain
- 5.Avoid assumptions about anatomy from outward presentation
This is an exam-prep summary, not a substitute for the full AANA document. Read the source at aana.com for authoritative wording. Education only.