Evaluation of results in aesthetic plastic surgery: preliminary observations on mammaplasty.
Aesthetic plastic surgery has received wide public attention in the past few years. Expectations of patients regarding results have been exaggerated; the real place and medical importance of the procedures are still not clear because of a lack of more objective evidence. This study discusses the difficulties encountered related to the scientific evaluation of the aesthetic operations and proposes alternatives for assessment. A frequently performed procedure, reduction mammaplasty, is presented as an example, with its specific evaluation.
Ferreira
M C
MC
Division of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. mcferrei@usp.br
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000473:pathology; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D009042:Motivation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D016896:Treatment Outcome