Patients Report 95 Percent Satisfaction Rate with Mohs Surgery for Melanoma

The study is the first to poll patient satisfaction for Mohs surgery.

Patients who received Mohs surgery to treat melanoma reported a 95 percent long-term satisfaction rate with their results, according to a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center dermatologists.

The study, published in Dermatologic Surgery, is the first to poll patient satisfaction for Mohs surgery. The findings complement previous scientific studies that found Mohs surgery is as effective as wide local excision for early melanomas, says study author Divya Srivastava, M.D., a UT Southwestern board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon, in a news release.

“Patient satisfaction is becoming such an important part of medicine these days, so we wanted to look to see what we can do to get patients more satisfied with the care that they are getting for their skin cancer treatment. That’s a big area of interest for a lot of the subspecialties,” she says.

UT Southwestern researchers surveyed 42 of its patients who underwent this technique. The majority of patients were white men with a mean age of 69. Three-quarters of the tumors were located on the face. The remaining were on the scalp, extremities, and neck.

This small survey suggests patients are finding that the long-term benefits of excision with 100% margin control using Mohs surgery greatly outweigh any potential perceived inconvenience. At UT Southwestern, dermatologic surgeons also provide immediate local tissue reconstruction, using advanced reconstruction techniques to diminish the appearance of scars.

The study was funded by a $5,300 grant from the Cutting Edge Research Grant Program of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.