Clinical and quality of life outcomes following reduction mammoplasty for symptomatic macromastia among Sri Lankan women: A prospective observational study
Keywords:
Quality of life; Clinical outcomes; Reduction mammoplasty; Symptomatic macromastia; Sri LankaAbstract
Background: The impact of macromastia is unfortunately underestimated among developing South Asian countries. However, it remains a common cause of physical and emotional suffering among women.
Aims and Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of reduction mammoplasty in alleviating symptoms of macromastia and its impact on quality of life (QOL) among Sri Lanka females.
Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 48 patients who underwent reduction mammoplasty in a surgical unit in Sri Lanka. SF-36 questionnaire and a Visual Analog Scale were used to assess QOL and pain. The outcomes were assessed 1 week prior and at 2 weeks and 6 months after surgery.
Results: Median age was 43 years and the median body mass index was 26.8 kg/m2. The average duration of symptoms was 2 years. All patients initially were reluctant to seek medical advice. Only 10.4% of patients were aware of the availability of treatment. Wise-pattern reduction mammoplasty was performed in 79.2%. There was a significant reduction in pain following surgery. There was also an improvement in all domains of the QOL following surgery, especially in general health, pain, and physical functions.
Conclusion: Reduction of mammoplasty caused a significant improvement in the overall QOL with the reduction in pain for patients suffering from macromastia. Creating more awareness among the public to encourage women to discuss breast-related symptoms and to overcome sociocultural taboos is a timely necessity.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
