The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Founded in 1931, the society represents doctors certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Tanna and her colleagues believe that their study has important implications for the commercialization of the practice of plastic surgery, especially for improving the likelihood that patients will recommend patients, reflecting the patient's trust in the surgeon. The scarcity of research on satisfaction in craniofacial, manual and other reconstructive specialties, as well as the narrow scope of measurement of satisfaction and the use of non-validated instruments, are current barriers that prevent studies on the satisfaction of plastic surgery patients from producing significant results. Articles related to procedures that are not considered to be of a plastic, reconstructive or cosmetic surgical nature were excluded.
This systematic review will examine the state of research on patient satisfaction in the field of plastic surgery. While plastic surgery can be a transformative experience for many, it's critical to understand that certain procedures may have lower satisfaction rates than others. The official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery provides subscribers with up-to-date reports on the latest techniques and monitoring of all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand microsurgery and microsurgery, burn repair and cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medical-legal issues. On the other hand, 21 studies (12%) used only validated questionnaires that were developed following formal guidelines and were aimed at specific patient populations according to the plastic surgery procedure they received. According to them, in the field of outpatient plastic surgery, patients feel more satisfied if they feel that their doctor provides them with compassionate and coordinated care.
The study included responses from nearly 37,000 patients, including more than 400 from the authors' plastic surgery department. Unlike the use of traditional outcome measures, such as mortality and morbidity, plastic surgery is a quality-of-life specialty in which patient satisfaction may be the most important outcome indicator in determining whether the patient will return for other reconstructive procedures or aesthetic. The researchers analyzed responses to a patient satisfaction questionnaire distributed to the patients of nearly 700 plastic surgeons across the country. In today's era of quality assurance and continuous improvement, Plastic Surgery can demonstrate the value of its services by developing better scientific metrics to evaluate patients' perceptions of surgical procedures and their experiences in relation to this specialty.
