Publications, by different surgical specialties, on patient-reported outcomes of oncoplastic surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the publications authored by plastic surgeons with those from other specialties' surgeons on patient-reported outcomes of oncoplastic surgery. METHODS:A review was carried out on the Medline database, emcompassing five years (2015-2020). Studies about partial breast reconstruction after conservative treatment, immediate or delayed, by any technique, which presented patient-reported outcomes, were included. RESULTS:We found 292 articles, from which 142 met the eligibility criteria. Publications were stratified into groups 1 (plastic surgeons) and 2 (other surgical specialties), and also into groups A (only plastic surgeons), B (only other specialties) and C (both), and compared statistically. Most publications (60.6%) were attributed to specialties other than plastic surgery. Nineteen percent had only plastic surgeons as authors, 50% only other specialties' surgeons, and 31% had both. There was no difference between groups regarding the impact factor of the journals in any of the stratifications, and the majority was published in journals with impact factor ≤2. CONCLUSION: In the last years, surgeons from specialties other than plastic surgery published more about the results of the oncoplastic surgery reported by the patients. There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding the impact factor of the journals.