[19980727]98-445_门诊乳房切除术.pdf

Amy Goldstein, “Under the scalpel, then out the door,” The Washington Post, November119, 1997, sec. 1A, 16.Joan L. Warren et al., “Trends and Outcomes of Outpatient Mastectomy in Elderly2Women,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 90 (1998).Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS Web98-445 STMUpdated July 27, 1998Outpatient MastectomyJudith A. JohnsonSpecialist in Biomedical PolicyScience, Technology, and Medicine DivisionSummaryReports in the media on outpatient mastectomy have raised concerns about thequality of care provided to breast cancer patients. Only a small number of fairly limitedresearch studies have examined this issue. Studies to date found the average length ofstay for a mastectomy declined from about 6 days in 1986 to about 2-3 days in 1995; inone study, the majority of mastectomy patients had a one-day stay in 1996. A majorforce behind this trend to a shorter length of stay is the desire to cut costs. Althoughthere is little solid evidence in the published medical literature that outpatientmastectomies cause medical harm, larger and more comprehensive research studies areneeded to better determine i