[Quality assurance in plastic surgery--initial experiences with "breast reduction" tracer diagnosis].

Quality assurance has to be an integral part of medical work as it is required by actual health laws. "Tracers" have been used in different parts of medicine as a reliable method. In 1997 we started to establish an internal program for a quality assurance with five different tracers (breast augmentation, breast reduction, oncological and reconstructive breast surgery, liposuction). The outcome is prospectively documented using an operation-specific documentation form. Every three months, the results are discussed in a surgical audit. The overall complication rate after mamma reduction (n = 81) was reduced about 40% to 21% (mean reduction weight 1.7 kg). Therefore, these measurements could promptly improve the quality of treatment of our patients.