Mastectomy can contribute to worse sexual health, psychosocial results

While mastectomy is often a necessary and life -saving option to treat many women with breast cancer, surgery can contribute to inferior sexual health, body image and several other physical and emotional challenges after surgery, in accordance with a new systematic review of mastectomy in women with breast cancer. Surgeons found that research emphasizes the importance of women’s screening before one mastectomy.

The research will be presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) clinical congress in Chicago, October 4-7.

As surgeons, we often focus on the medical side of care. There is no universal or standardized approach to women’s advice in the full range of physical and emotional results after mastectomy. As a result, many women start surgery with an incomplete understanding of what can be expected in a long term, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally, after passing mastectomy. “

Lauren Raymond-King, MD, main author of Research and Surgical Resident at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut

Although the joint procedure, mastectomy, which includes the removal of one or both breasts, is a major operation that requires long -term control care. Over a quarter of patients with breast cancer usually undergo mastectomy, and many patients are in the hospital for shorter periods after surgery*- a trend that prompted researchers to analyze patients’ results after mastectomy through a systematic review.

Of the almost 3000 studies that the scientists identified, scientists analyzed 20 studies that met their inclusion criteria, examining the influence of mastectomy on the quality of life, sexual health and psychosocial well -being. All articles focused on the experience of women with breast cancer 1-3. Studies involving women with breast cancer in stage 4, as well as women who have chosen preventive mastectomy to reduce the risk of cancer, were excluded from the study due to clear needs and various general medical decisions for these patients.

Key arrangements

• Worse psychosocial results for women who undergo mastectomy: Fifteen of 20 analyzed studies reported worse psychosocial results that measure emotional, social and psychological effects of the disease, in patients undergoing mastectomy in at least one psychosocial domain.

• No normalized approach to assessing the quality of life: In 20 studies, 38 different measures of the results reported by the patient were reported. The most frequently assessed psychosocial domains are a body image (55%), sexual health or sexual function (50%), pain or physical function (45%) and quality of life (40%); Psychosocial health (35%) and satisfaction (25%) were significantly less rated.

• A standard approach is needed: Most of the results reported by the patient (BOR) were used only once (72%), and the tests from the use of one ferry to eight different balls to assess psychosocial results after surgery. This wide variety emphasizes the need to better prepare women using a approved tool for screening or other methods before the passage of mastectomy.

“Breast cancer affects so many patients in our country and research is constantly carried out to improve the results of survival,” said Elizabeth Berger, MD, MS, Facs, senior research author and assistant to the surgery professor at Yale School of Medicine. “Now, when there are many more people who have survived breast cancer, we cannot miss the opportunity to examine the quality of life results for our patients, because they live much longer after their diagnosis and treatment.”

The study is limited by the research contained in the systematic review, which may differ in terms of quality and research design, which hinders to draw conclusions in all studies, the authors noticed. Future research focuses on developing the approved screening tool designed to assess women’s readiness in the face of mastectomy.