Patient satisfaction after mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction.

For patients with breast cancer who are not applicable for breast-saving treatment (because of tumor characteristics), who prefer an amputation or who undergo a prophylactic amputation an immediate breast reconstruction is a standard offer. A patient may choose, in consultation with the plastic surgeon, between an autologous reconstruction or placement of a prosthesis. In this study only the tissue expanders will be taken into account. The tissue expander will be placed subpectoral and is, after sufficient outpatient filling, replaced for a definitive prosthesis. All patients with a tissue expander/prosthesis placed in the Atrium Medical Centre Parkstad in the period of January 2008 until July 2011 will be taken into account. The main goal of this research is to examine whether patients are satisfied and whether the complications during or after treatment are acceptable. Patients’ satisfaction will be reviewed by means of a self-made questionnaire. Complications will be reviewed from the patients’ medical report.

For patients with breast cancer who are not applicable for breast-saving treatment (because of tumor characteristics), who prefer an amputation or who undergo a prophylactic amputation an immediate breast reconstruction is a standard offer. A patient may choose, in consultation with the plastic surgeon, between an autologous reconstruction or placement of a prosthesis. In this study only the tissue expander/prosthesis will be taken into account. During this operation a tissue expander is placed after the mastectomy. After sufficient outpatient filling, the tissue expander is replaced for a definitive prosthesis. The main goal of this research is to examine whether patients are satisfied and whether the complications during or after treatment are acceptable. Whenever the satisfaction is low it is essential to examine which factors contribute or have contributed to this dissatisfaction. It is important to examine whether the dissatisfaction is due to complications or due to other patient factors.

During the study patients will be contacted once by means of a questionnaire. Whenever there is no response after three weeks the patient will be contacted by telephone to remind her. All questionnaires received until June/ July 2012 will be included. The study will end in July 2012.

In this study patients who received a tissue expander in the Atrium Medical Centre Parkstad will be included. The tissue expander is placed subpectoral and filled with saline infusion. Whenever there is enough stretching of the skin a definitive prosthesis is placed. The main outcome of this study is the patient satisfaction after placement of a tissue expander and definitive prosthesis. This will be reviewed by means of a self-made questionnaire. Patients who received a tissue expander in the Atrium Medical Centre Parkstad between January 2008 and July 2011 will be included. A control group will not be included. Complications will be reviewed from the patients’ medical report.