AB093. SOH24AB_014. The attitudes of patients towards orthopaedic post-surgical scars
Orthopaedic Session I

AB093. SOH24AB_014. The attitudes of patients towards orthopaedic post-surgical scars

Martin Ho1, Hannah Hughes2, Patrick Fleming2

1School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; 2Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork, Ireland

Background: Post-surgical scars (PSS) are an expected consequence of surgery. Several factors are believed to affect patient attitudes towards PSS including younger patient age and shorter time post-operative. Little data are available regarding patient attitudes towards orthopaedic PSS. We aim to determine the attitudes of patients towards their orthopaedic PSS and identify factors associated.

Methods: All patients between 2- and 18-weeks post-operative attending orthopaedic fracture clinics in Cork University Hospital between February and August 2022 were included. Patients completed a questionnaire at their post-operative outpatient visit and at six months post-operative. The Patient Scar Assessment Scale (PSAS) was used to assess PSS satisfaction. The European Quality of Life 5 Domain, alongside several Likert scales were used to quantify patient quality of life (QoL). Numerous factors were analysed to determine association with scar satisfaction.

Results: In total, 91 patients were included. The mean PSAS score was 28.41 [95% confidence interval (CI): 25.85–30.97], indicating patients viewed their PSS in a favourable manner. Factors associated with decreased PSS satisfaction included younger patient age (P=0.045) and decreased time passed post-operatively (P=0.002). Patients reporting their PSS appearing worse than expected were more likely to agree that their QoL had been adversely affected by it (P=0.001).

Conclusions: A minority of patients are dissatisfied with their orthopaedic PSS. This study identifies several factors associated with poor PSS satisfaction consistent with established surgical literature. Our finding associating pre-operative patient scar expectations and post-operative QoL is novel. Accordingly, peri-operative scar expectation management may be implemented to mitigate scar-related QoL impact and enhance post-operative recovery.

Keywords: Orthopaedics; patient satisfaction; psycho-social; scar appearance; surgical scar

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-24-ab093
Cite this abstract as: Ho M, Hughes H, Fleming P. AB093. SOH24AB_014. The attitudes of patients towards orthopaedic post-surgical scars. Mesentery Peritoneum 2024;8:AB093.

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