Scars and satisfaction: do smaller scars improve patient-reported outcome?

Area of Science:

• Surgical Oncology
• Endocrine Surgery
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Background:

• Thyroidectomy is a common procedure with generally low complication rates.
• Patient concern regarding scar prominence after thyroidectomy is prevalent.
• Minimizing incision size for cosmetic reasons may potentially increase surgical risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between conventional thyroidectomy scar length and patient satisfaction.
• To validate patient self-measurement of scar length and neck circumference against investigator measurements.
• To determine if scar length influences overall patient satisfaction with the surgical outcome.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involving 100 patients undergoing conventional thyroidectomy.
• Patients self-measured scar length and neck circumference, and rated satisfaction (1-10 Likert scale).
• Spearman's correlation analyzed the association between scar length (absolute and relative) and patient satisfaction.

Main Results:

• Patient and investigator measurements showed high correlation for neck circumference (ρ = 0.9) and scar length (ρ = 0.93).
• No statistically significant correlation was found between scar length and patient satisfaction (ρ = 0.068).
• Relative scar length also showed no significant association with patient satisfaction (ρ = -0.045).

Conclusions:

• Thyroidectomy scar length is not associated with patient satisfaction.
• Surgical decisions for thyroidectomy should not be based solely on achieving the smallest possible scar.
• Prioritizing surgical safety and efficacy over purely aesthetic concerns in incision planning is recommended.