DEFINITIVE SURGERY FOR BREAST-CANCER PERFORMED ON AN OUTPATIENT BASIS

Objective: More than 160 000 women will develop breast cancer in the U nited States during the next year. Traditionally, their definitive sur gery has been performed on an inpatient basis, with postoperative hosp ital stays ranging from 1 to 7 days. Design: Retrospective review of c ases and results. Patients: Two hundred twenty-one patients underwent 223 definitive surgical procedures for carcinoma of the breast, entire ly on an outpatient basis, between September 1990 and June 1992. Opera tions included 31 modified radical mastectomies, 101 partial mastectom ies with radical axillary node dissections, 11 total mastectomies, 69 partial mastectomies, and 11 radical axillary dissections.Results: The re were no deaths, and no serious complications. No patient required h ospitalization for any reason. There were no wound infections. Patient satisfaction was high, and compliance was excellent. Conclusions: Mos t operations for carcinoma of the breast can be performed on an outpat ient basis, without increasing the risk of complications.