Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic: Using telemedicine for pre-operative surgical evaluation in breast disease

Abstract

Background/Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic motivated telemedicine care to decrease potential exposures for both patients and staff. We hypothesized that select breast surgical patients can be successfully evaluated pre-operatively with telemedicine. Methods With institutional review board approval, patients with telemedicine surgical consults between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 were identified retrospectively from our prospective breast surgical registry. The frequency of successful pre-operative evaluation using telemedicine alone was assessed, defined as cases in which surgery was completed on the planned day without changes to the surgical plan after physical examination in the pre-operative area. Differences in disease presentation, patient characteristics, and complications were evaluated by whether the first in-person visit occurred on the day of surgery versus the prior. Results A total of 374 patients underwent breast surgery between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020, of which 96 (25.7%) had a telemedicine consultation. After the telemedicine visit, 38 patients (39.6%) had additional in-person visits with the breast surgeon prior to their operative date, and 58 patients (60.4%) did not. Forty-five patients underwent breast-conserving therapies, 41 mastectomies (25 with reconstruction), two axillary dissections, and eight excisional biopsies. All surgeries were completed on the planned operative day, with no changes in surgical plans. Patients with telemedicine only prior to surgery were more likely to speak English (100% vs. 92.1%, p = 0.02) and have lower body mass index (median 24.9 vs. 29.2, p = 0.01). The frequency of in-person pre-operative visits varied significantly by surgeon ( p < 0.001). Age, American Society of Anaesthesiologists score, distance from facility, clinical T/N category, surgery type, and complications did not differ between groups. Conclusions Telemedicine can be utilized successfully for select breast surgical patients, with the ability to proceed to surgery in the majority of patients without additional in-person visits.