Objective: To examine how the recent sharp rise in telemedicine has impacted trends in accessibility of breast reconstruction (BR). Patients and Methods: A retrospective study reviewed patients who underwent a total mastectomy at our institution from 1 August 2016 to 31 January 2022. By comparing cohorts before and during the widespread implementation of telemedicine, we assessed telehealth’s impact on healthcare accessibility, measured by distance from patients’ residences to our institution. Results: A total of 359 patients were included in this study. Of those, 176 received total mastectomy prior to the availability of telemedicine, and 183 in the subsequent period. There were similar baseline characteristics among patients undergoing mastectomy, including distance from place of residence to hospital (p= 0.67). The same proportion elected to receive BR between groups (p= 0.22). Those declining BR traveled similar distances as those electing the procedure, both before the era of widespread telemedicine adoption (40.3 and 35.6 miles,p= 0.56) and during the height of telemedicine use (22.3 and 61.3 miles,p= 0.26). When tracking follow-up care, significantly more patients during the pandemic pursued at least one follow-up visit with their original surgical team, indicative of the increased utilization of telehealth services. Conclusions: While the rate of BR remained unchanged during the pandemic, our findings reveal significant shifts in healthcare utilization, highly attributed to the surge in telehealth adoption. This suggests a transformative impact on breast cancer care, emphasizing the need for continued exploration of telemedicine’s role in enhancing accessibility and patient follow-up in the post-pandemic era.
目的：探讨近期远程医疗的急剧增长如何影响乳房重建术可及性的趋势。患者与方法：本研究回顾性分析了2016年8月1日至2022年1月31日期间在我院接受全乳房切除术的患者。通过比较远程医疗广泛实施前后的队列，我们评估了远程医疗对医疗可及性的影响，以患者居住地至我院的距离作为衡量指标。结果：本研究共纳入359例患者。其中，176例在远程医疗普及前接受全乳房切除术，183例在后续期间接受手术。两组接受乳房切除术患者的基线特征相似，包括居住地至医院的距离（p=0.67）。两组中选择接受乳房重建术的比例相同（p=0.22）。在远程医疗广泛普及前（40.3英里与35.6英里，p=0.56）及远程医疗使用高峰期（22.3英里与61.3英里，p=0.26），拒绝与接受乳房重建术患者的就医距离均无显著差异。在随访护理方面，疫情期间显著更多患者至少完成了一次原手术团队的随访，这表明远程医疗服务的使用率有所提高。结论：尽管疫情期间乳房重建术的比例保持不变，但我们的研究结果揭示了医疗服务利用模式的显著转变，这主要归因于远程医疗使用的激增。这表明远程医疗对乳腺癌治疗产生了变革性影响，强调有必要在后疫情时代继续探索远程医疗在提升医疗可及性和患者随访中的作用。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家