See-and-treat surgery for facial skin cancer

Abstract

See-and-treat surgery has been described as an efficient means of streamlining specialist diagnosis and treatment, and is commonly employed in gynaecology to reduce the delay between cytological screening and definitive treatment of cervical neoplasia. Relatively young patients with predominantly benign skin lesions have been treated in see-and-treat clinics but only in the context of referrals from primary care. The author describes the treatment of tertiary referrals for facial skin malignancies under local anaesthesia at these clinics, and analyses their acceptability to patients. A total of 100 consecutive patients were included. Data on age, coexisting conditions, diagnosis, site and size of lesion, operation, and outcomes including complications and completeness of excision, were collected. A questionnaire seeking patients' opinions was also used. Ninety patients were treated and 98 lesions were removed, 94% of which were malignant. The complete excision rate was 95%. There were no complications, and 98% of patients were satisfied with the service. See-and-treat surgery is an effective, safe, and acceptable means of providing surgical management of facial skin malignancies.

Keywords: Basal cell carcinoma; Co-morbidities; Elderly; Melanoma; See-and-treat; Skin; Skin cancer; Squamous cell carcinoma; Surgery.