Wareham Carly, Bertaux Brittany, Chahine Elsa, Homsy Christopher, Perry Dylan, Persing Sarah, Nardello Salvatore, Chatterjee Abhishek
Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, Biddeford, Maine, USA.
J Surg Oncol. 2025 Jul;132(1):22-27. doi: 10.1002/jso.28144. Epub 2025 May 14.
Despite advancements in oncoplastic breast surgery, barriers to breast reconstruction remain, particularly in rural and suburban areas. We aimed to assess the presence of plastic surgeons performing breast reconstruction relative to breast surgeons or general surgeons performing breast cancer surgery within urban, suburban, and rural populations.
Data were collected from the 2024 membership of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Breast and plastic surgeons were totaled by state, and each breast surgeon's zip code was searched for proximity to a plastic surgeon performing reconstructive surgery within 10 or 20 miles. Zip codes were categorized by population density to determine surgeon distribution.
There are 1.8 times more plastic surgeons than breast surgeons. In total, 14% of breast surgeons had no plastic surgeons within 10 miles and 7% had none within 20 miles, compared to 25% and 10% in 2018. In total, 43% of breast and plastic surgeons practice in urban areas, whereas only 25% of breast surgeons and 19% of plastic surgeons practice in rural areas.
While access to breast reconstruction continues to improve, there are still disparities in rural areas. Efforts directed toward improving access to breast reconstruction in more rural areas should be pursued.
尽管肿瘤整形乳房手术取得了进展，但乳房重建仍存在障碍，尤其是在农村和郊区。我们旨在评估城市、郊区和农村人口中进行乳房重建的整形外科医生相对于进行乳腺癌手术的乳房外科医生或普通外科医生的数量。
数据收集自美国乳房外科医生协会和美国整形外科医生协会2024年的会员信息。按州统计乳房外科医生和整形外科医生的总数，并搜索每位乳房外科医生邮政编码附近10或20英里内进行重建手术的整形外科医生。邮政编码按人口密度分类以确定外科医生分布情况。
整形外科医生的数量是乳房外科医生的1.8倍。总体而言，14%的乳房外科医生在10英里内没有整形外科医生，7%在20英里内没有，而2018年这两个比例分别为25%和10%。总体而言，43%的乳房外科医生和整形外科医生在城市地区执业，而只有25%的乳房外科医生和19%的整形外科医生在农村地区执业。
虽然乳房重建的可及性持续改善，但农村地区仍存在差异。应努力改善更多农村地区乳房重建的可及性。
