KANSAS SURGEONS ATTITUDES TOWARD IMMEDIATE BREAST RECONSTRUCTION - A STATEWIDE SURVEY

BACKGROUND: Immediate reconstruction following mastectomy provides pat ients the benefit of emerging from their operation with a reconstructe d breast mound. METHODS: A survey was distributed to 197 Kansas surgeo ns to determine the frequency of breast reconstruction and io identify factors that may influence them to refer patients for immediate recon struction. RESULTS: A response of 78.2% was obtained. Ten percent of m astectomy patients had breast reconstruction. Significant findings wer e that younger surgeons were more likely to discuss reconstruction wit h all patients and were more likely to preoperatively refer their pati ents to a plastic surgeon; surgeons in larger communities had more pat ients who had undergone immediate reconstruction; surgeons who discuss ed reconstruction with all patients had more patients who underwent im mediate reconstruction; and frequency of immediate reconstruction incr eased along with increased time spent discussing reconstruction preope ratively. CONCLUSION: Our survey indicated that immediate breast recon struction was rarely performed; however, when it was, a number of fact ors were correlated. These included the surgeon's age and practice loc ation, attitude toward reconstruction, and time spent preoperatively w ith patients.