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Evaluation of surgeons' marking of excision margins for superficial facial skin cancer lesions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2008

S Ghosh ,
S Duvvi ,
P Goodyear ,
E Reddy  and
A Kumar
S Ghosh*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Warrington General Hospital, Warrington, UK
S Duvvi
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Warrington General Hospital, Warrington, UK
P Goodyear
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Warrington General Hospital, Warrington, UK
E Reddy
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Warrington General Hospital, Warrington, UK
A Kumar
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Warrington General Hospital, Warrington, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Samit Ghosh, 8 Wood Heath Way, Eastham, Wirral CH62 0BQ, UK. E-mail: samitkghosh@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Introduction:

We established a series of exercises that evaluated surgeons' marking of excision margins, and we sought to identify factors influencing such marking.

Methods:

Twenty-four participants were asked to draw preset margins (3, 4, 5, 8 or 10 mm) on a series of life-size images representing noncosmetically and cosmetically sensitive facial sites, and also to draw circles of set diameters (3, 5 and 8 mm) on white paper. Margins were measured with vernier callipers calibrated to 0.05 mm.

Results:

In the small margin (3 mm) and noncosmetically sensitive exercises, the mean margins drawn were greater than required. When a 10 mm margin was required in cosmetically sensitive areas and nonsensitive areas, the margin was consistently underestimated in the former group by all participants (p < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Surgeons marking facial lesions for excision should use a measurement of scale, in order to eliminate the inherent tendency to underestimate the margin required for large excisions and for cosmetically sensitive areas.

Keywords

SkinNeoplasmSurgery
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 123 , Issue 2 , February 2009 , pp. 195 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2008

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