Patient Recruitment and Referral Patterns in Face Transplantation: A Single Center's Experience

Face transplantation has been shown to improve the functional and aesthetic deficits of facially disfigured individuals. Given promising short-term results, it is important to examine whether face transplantation centers are effectively reaching the targeted facial disfigurement population. The authors' center reviewed their face transplantation contacts to assess patient recruitment and outreach performance.

The authors performed a retrospective review of their face transplantation contacts from the time of their institutional review board protocol approval (February of 2008) to October of 2015. They investigated the relationship between referral pattern (i.e., physician versus self) with the contact's demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, race, mechanism of injury, and geographic location) and clinical trial status.

There were a total of 72 face transplantation contacts. The average age of the contacts was 38 years, and the majority were men [n = 41 (56.9 percent)]. Most were white (n = 33), and the most prevalent mechanism of injury was burns (46.4 percent). The majority of the contacts resided within the United States (n = 47), with most from the Northeastern United States (n = 21). Of the 72 contacts, 35 (48.6 percent) were physician referrals and 37 (51.4 percent) were self-referrals. Physician referrals have led to the most screened and transplanted contacts in their center, whereas self-referral often led to immediate exclusion.

The authors show the diversity of patient characteristics and referral patterns in their clinical trial. Furthermore, they describe the relationship of characteristics to outcomes in their cohort and identify areas of improvement, such as patient and physician education. Lastly, they are reminded of the potential impact on the burn community.