Along with the relief of physical symptoms, breast reduction surgery allows women to participate in sports, find clothes that fit well and improve their self-image. Perhaps because these benefits are becoming better known, more women are choosing to have it done. The meta-analysis is a statistical pool of data from available scientific literature that allows conclusions to be drawn that could not be made from data in a single study. Using a rigorous protocol, the scientists narrowed their analysis to 29 studies in five languages involving more than 4,000 patients between 1985 and 1999. This review concluded that breast reduction surgery positively helps patients both in improved physical symptoms and quality of life.
Insurers often claim the operation is performed for cosmetic rather than therapeutic reasons.
Managed care executives and medical directors typically require objective evidence to prove a procedure is medically necessary. With this Proceedings review and two ASPS studies presented in 2000, there is now ample evidence to support the health benefits of the procedure. Two ASPS studies presented in 2000 support the findings of the meta-analysis. Evaluations after surgery showed participants had significant improvement in all categories. In our study, we very clearly described the burden of having large breasts, illustrated the surgical benefit of breast reduction on physical symptoms and defined new measures for insurance carriers to assess the need for covering the procedure.