PROVISION AND ACCEPTABILITY OF DAY-CASE BREAST BIOPSY - AN AUDIT OF CURRENT PRACTICE

The introduction of a national breast cancer screening programme and w ider public awareness of breast disease have contributed to an increas ing workload for breast surgeons. One method of dealing with this prob lem efficiently is to encourage day case surgery for breast biopsy pat ients. We studied our own day case breast biopsy workload, asked other surgeons what proportion of breast biopsies they performed in this wa y and assessed its acceptability to patients. Of surgeons working in u nits with facilities available, 40.3% perform 25% or less of breast bi opsies as a day case. Of 235 patients undergoing breast biopsy in our unit during an 11-month period, 195 (83%) were performed as day cases. Of these, 192 were under general anaesthesia. In all, 97.2% of patien ts were satisfied with their treatment as a day case, and only 4.5% wo uld have preferred admission postoperatively. Carcinoma was present in 22 (11%) lesions biopsied, 11 (50%) of which occurred in patients und er 50 years of age. Surgical complications were encountered in 32 (16. 4%) cases; significant bruising 26 (13.3%), wound infections 4 (2.05%) , dihiscence 1 (0.51%), and retained suture 1 (0.51%). Breast biopsy i s an appropriate and acceptable procedure to undertake as a day case.