Patient-Stated Postoperative Follow-up and Suture Preferences After Mohs Micrographic Surgery
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Understanding post-operative patient preferences following Mohs Micrographic Surgery (MMS) may uncover opportunities to improve patient experience and quality of healthcare delivered.Potential factors contributing to patient preferences may include prior experience with dermatologic surgeries, health literacy, medical comorbidities, and factors related to the Mohs surgery itself.(1)For post-operative care, patients may follow up in-person, securely send a photo to be reviewed by the Mohs surgeon, or simply be instructed to notify the surgeon if a problem arises.Furthermore, suture type may determine follow-up; while nonabsorbable suture often necessitates an in-person visit for removal, the use of absorbable suture may eliminate the need for such a visit unless to check the wound in-person.Previous studies have found comparable efficacy and complications with absorbable vs. nonabsorbable suture, but patient preference for suture type has not yet been well studied.(2,3) This study aimed to assess patient preferences in terms of follow-up and suture type. Methods:We conducted phone surveys of patients older than 18 years old who received MMS from October 2022 to February 2023 at a single academic health center.After providing verbal consent, patients were surveyed on preferences for follow-up (in-person, photo-based, vs. no follow-up) and suture (absorbable vs. non-absorbable).Patients were stratified by preference and factors including patient characteristics, previous dermatologic surgery experience, skin cancer characteristics, and MMS characteristics were compared using chi-squared test for categorical variables and either ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test depending on normality of continuous variables.Patients were asked cite as many reasons as they wished for their preferences.Qualitative thematic analysis was then used to classify responses into categories. Results:Of 180 patients contacted by telephone, 109 answered and 100 consented to survey (35% female, median age 72.5 years [IQR 65-79], median time since surgery 9.4 weeks [IQR 7.9-11]).Table 1 summarizes patient demographics and case-specific elements such as HHS Public Access
Source: Dermatologic Surgery
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G240262331
OpenAlex ID: W4393252579