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Patient Perspectives After Surgery-Related Complications Among Breast Cancer Patients from a LMIC

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Abstract

Long-term quality of life in breast cancer patients has been studied and published regularly. However, the lived experiences of patients who develop complications after surgery are not well understood. Determining this experience of patients is challenging in most low- and middle-income countries where the majority of patients belong to poor strata of society and are uneducated. We aimed to explore the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of patients with surgery-related complications after breast cancer surgery. Purposive sampling was used to identify patients who developed any postoperative complication, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Common patterns of patient experiences were identified and analyzed using descriptive thematic analysis. Twenty-eight patients out of 210 developing complications postoperatively were identified. The median age was 48 years (range 32–65 years). The majority (n = 26) were housewives, educated below the primary level (n = 11) and below the poverty line (n = 13). Complications included seroma (n = 17), flap necrosis and infection (n = 5), and hematoma (n = 1). Seven domains emerged from the interviews—knowledge of complications, psychological impact, burden, disruptiveness, social impact, relationship with the surgical team, and suggestions to improve the experience. The themes identified in the present study provide insights into the lived experiences and can inform the future development of patient-reported outcome measures and quality improvement programs, including more effective pre-operative counseling and consent.

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Data can be provided on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support obtained from Prof Deepti Bala Sharma and Prof Arpan Mishra in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur, India

    Bharath S., Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Dhananjaya Sharma, Pawan Agarwal, Deepti Bala Sharma & Arpan Mishra

  2. Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, Patna, India

    Shikha Jha

  3. Department of Preventive, Social Medicine and Biostatistics, Rama Medical College, Kanpur, India

    Saket Shekhar

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  1. Bharath S.
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  2. Sanjay Kumar Yadav
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Correspondence to Sanjay Kumar Yadav.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from the participants.

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S., B., Yadav, S.K., Sharma, D. et al. Patient Perspectives After Surgery-Related Complications Among Breast Cancer Patients from a LMIC. Indian J Surg Oncol 14, 595–600 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13193-023-01721-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13193-023-01721-z

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