A prospective study of psychiatric and psychosocial sequelae of bilateral subcutaneous mastectomy

Short- and long-term adaptation (two months and one year respectively) to bilateral subcutaneous mastectomy was studied in twenty-five consecutive patients operated upon at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Malmö, Sweden. The results were related to preoperative personality and psychosocial profiles. Postoperative difficulties in accepting the surgical result, sexual dysfunctions and mental reactions with depression and anxiety were observed. Such reactions proved to be associated with specific personality characteristics.