Abstract: 17.10 Development Of A Novel Digital Image System In Plastic Surgery

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Visual documentation is a vital part of assessing outcomes following both reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery. Photos are also helpful for both surgeons and patients when procedures are planned in order to achieve realistic outcome expectations. Images of surgical results also play an important part in plastic surgical research. Analogue, paper-printed, photographs have been used at our department for more than 35 years, and digital images have been used for the past two decades. However, handling large quantities of digital images and using them constitutes a significant challenge and the literature regarding this problem is scarce. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our department have collected almost 200.000 digital photographs over the course of the last 15 years. Previously the images were stored and categorized according to social security number, diagnosis, as well as certain terms, which every surgeon could decide and write down individually for each patient. The large number of photographs made it increasingly difficult to navigation through the database and extract relevant photos. To solve this, we developed a standardized model for registering and archiving digital photographs that could then be incorporated into the photo-database software. This allows users to search for specific procedures, anatomical areas or surgical techniques, and to cross referencing these, for example all local flaps on the nose, preformed by Dr Doe, due to carcinomas. RESULTS: Since the introduction of the software we have stored all our photos using this new model. It has proven more time efficient and easy to handle for pre- as well as post-operative storing of the images. CONCLUSIONS: The use of this standardized model has helped us in pre-operative consulting of patients and post-operative evaluation of our results as well as eased the process of extracting the relevant photos when doing scientific research.