MORE DETAILED DOCUMENTATION OF OPERATIVE PROCEDURES IN BREAST-CONSERVING TREATMENT - WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO US

When researching the literature, many differences within surgical tech niques for breast conservation, tumour excision and axillary dissectio n are described in the smallest detail, Most authors have their own pr eferences but little clinical research has been done to evaluate the i mpact of those differences on outcome: local control, cosmesis, compli cations or costs, Even when prospective, randomized clinical trial pro tocols provide many instructions to perform the surgery, the case repo rt forms almost never document the surgery actually performed. This is in contrast to radiotherapy and chemotherapy regimens, which have had higher standards of quality of care implemented, The development of m ore detailed and standardized procedural information should lead to mo re accurate and specific information, which can be easily transferred in a learning process, and enable more reliable clinical research, Doc umentation and guidelines for surgery are essential tools in implement ing a process of quality audit for a type of surgery where accuracy is essential.