A UNC School of Medicine study found mastectomy patients know very little information about surgical breast reconstruction and even less about the complications of the surgery.
Over a period of 20 months, Dr. Clara Lee, associate professor of surgery, led the study, which surveyed breast cancer patients planning to undergo a mastectomy on their knowledge of breast reconstruction surgery.
“Breast reconstruction is a procedure that is done after a woman’s had a mastectomy, and it can be done either at the same time the woman is having the mastectomy, or it can be done a year later or whenever the patient feels ready,” Lee said.
“It’s basically a surgical procedure to restore a breast shape, and it’s done with either a breast implant or with tissue transfer, where you move tissue from one part of the person’s body to another, usually from the abdomen or from the back.”
During the study, 126 female patients from UNC Hospitals were given a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of breast reconstruction and evaluate the patients’ decision-making process.
“Whereas lots of other studies of decision-making have asked the patients how they felt about their decisions either months or years after their surgery, which as you can imagine can be a little biased because whenever you go through something and you look back on it, your perspective about it is different than when you’ve just made the decision," Lee said.
A similar follow-up questionnaire was sent to patients at six months, 12 months and 18 months after their surgeries.
The study found providers tend to review the advantages of breast reconstruction rather than place emphasis on the disadvantages.
Dr. Michelle Roughton, associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery, said the lack of information provided to breast cancer patients about the surgery leads to problems patients never thought they'd have to face.
