Patient Satisfaction Index and Quality of Life Measurement with Breast-Q after Breast Reconstruction in a Plastic Surgery Center in Mexico

Introduction: Cancer is one of the most devastating pathologies to affect the breast. Mastectomy stigmas are associated with depression, body image dysmorphia, and decreasing quality of life. BREAST-Q is a PROM (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) that has proven useful in measuring satisfaction with breast reconstruction results from the patient’s point of view. Objectives: To measure the satisfaction index and improvement in quality of life after breast reconstruction for breast cancer sequelae in our hospital in the last 5 years. Materials and Methods: Descriptive Study that includes patients with Breast cancer diagnosis that underwent mastectomy and breast reconstruction (prosthesis or autologous tissue) in “Hospital Central Sur de Petroleos Mexicanos” (January 2015 to January 2020), whose satisfaction index was measured with BREAST-Q one year after reconstruction. Results: 153 patients were included in the analysis. Mean global satisfaction was 74 points. We observed a tendency towards higher psychosocial, sexual and appearance satisfaction in patients who underwent reconstruction with autologous tissue. The mean satisfaction with provided information was 64 points and with the medical team > 90 points. Conclusion: Breast reconstruction is associated to a high satisfaction index and quality of life improvement regardless of the technique. BREAST-Q proved to be useful in evaluating patient experience and it helped us identify areas of opportunity to improve our care.

Description of the Factors Associated with Trigger Finger in Patients Treated at Petroleos Mexicanos “Pemex”

Background: The trigger finger, also known as stenosing tenosynovitis of the flexor tendon, is a common cause of hand disability;This can result in significant limitations in certain daily living activities. It is possible to treat this condition with conservative or surgical methods. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study. The source population consisted of all patients with a diagnosis of trigger finger who had been treated in the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery of our institution between 2020 and 2023. The primary objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and characterize the clinical and surgical characteristics of the population affected by trigger finger in our hospital. Results: The total population was 237 patients, of which 165 were women (70%) and 72 men (30%). The most affected hand was the right hand, with a total of 158 patients (67%). In the right hand, the middle finger was the most affected (45%). Of the 237 patients, 80 of them had obesity (34%), 86 had type 2 diabetes mellitus (36%), 95 had systemic arterial hypertension (40%). Open technique was performed in 190 (80%) patients, while percutaneous technique was performed in 47 (20%) of them. Conclusion: The female sex was twice as frequent, and the middle finger and thumb were the most affected. Most of the patients received surgical treatment with open approach and percutaneous approach in 20% of them.