Psychosocial Effects of Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy

About five percent of breast cancer in women comes from a hereditary gene mutation.When some women test positive for this gene and have relatives who have had breast cancer, they opt to undergo removal of both breasts as a preventive measure. This procedure is a prophylactic bilateral total mastectomy.

Need

• Women who undergo prophylactic bilateral total mastectomies should undergo psychological counseling before and after the procedure. Included in the counseling should be assessment and support of the patient's psychological status.

Decision

• A 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that most women who choose to undergo prophylactic bilateral mastectomy have decreased stress about contracting cancer and are happy with their decision to have the surgery.

Post-Surgery

• Most women surveyed in the aforementioned JAMA study were highly satisfied with their emotional and physical recovery, as well as with their social and psychological function.

Exceptions

• About one-third of the women studied, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the reconstruction surgery, largely because of complications that occurred post-operatively.

Support

• Most women surveyed express satisfaction with the emotional support given to them by friends and family, both before and after their surgical procedure, according to an October 2007 article in the Cancer Control journal.