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. 2024 Jan 15;60(1):155.
doi: 10.3390/medicina60010155.

Mind the Gap: A Questionnaire on the Distance between Diagnostic Advances and Clinical Practice in Skin Cancer Treatment

Giuseppe Diluiso  1 , Mirco Pozzi  1 , Flavio Giulio Liso  2 , Vanessa Marron Mendes  3 , Jenna Hannouille  4 , Luigi Losco  5 , Alberto Bolletta  6 , Emanuele Cigna  6 , Michela Schettino  3
Affiliations

Mind the Gap: A Questionnaire on the Distance between Diagnostic Advances and Clinical Practice in Skin Cancer Treatment

Giuseppe Diluiso et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Significant progress has been made in skin cancer diagnosis, with a surge in available technologies in recent years. Despite this, the practical application and integration of these technologies in dermatology and plastic surgery remain uneven. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive 20-question survey was designed and distributed using online survey administration software (Google Forms, 2018, Google, Mountain View, CA, USA) from June 2023 to September 2023. The survey aimed to assess the knowledge and utilization of dermatologic diagnostic advancements among plastic surgeons in various European countries. Results: Data were obtained from 29 plastic surgeons across nine European countries, revealing a notable gap between diagnostic technologies and their routine use in surgical practice. The gap for some technologies was both cognitive and applicative; for electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and multispectral imaging, only 6.9% of the sample knew of the technologies and no surgeons in the sample used them. In the case of other technologies, such as high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS), 72.4% of the sample knew about them but only 34.5% used them, highlighting a more significant application problem. Conclusions: Spotlighting this discrepancy provides a valuable foundation for initiating collaborative efforts between units and facilitating knowledge exchange among diverse specialists. This, in turn, contributes to advancing clinical practice by integrating the innovative opportunities presented by ongoing research.

Keywords: Europe; dermato-oncology; dermatology; plastic; search engine; software; surgeons; surgery; surveys and questionnaires.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adhesive patch biopsy (tape stripping mRNA) knowledge and application.
Figure 2
Figure 2
EIS (electrical impedance spectroscopy) knowledge and application.
Figure 3
Figure 3
High-frequency ultrasonography (HFUS) knowledge and application.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) knowledge and application.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Future resolutions of plastic surgeons toward these technologies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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