Abstract
Purpose: Surgery is the only treatment option for chondrosarcoma grade I. Because this cartilage tumour is found by coincidence, patients feel unsafe, are anxious and very emotional. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychological and social impact of a chondrosarcoma grade I and to optimize the care of these patients.
Patients and methods: Eighty-two patients with a mean age of 50 years (22 – 80), who underwent surgery because of a chondrosarcoma grade I between 1990 and 2007, participated in this retrospective multi-method study. Assessment followed using, the Short Form-36, the MSTS and a special developed semi-structured questionnaire. The mean follow-up time was 4,8 year. 66 patients had a curettage, fenolisation and bonegraft. Sixteen patients had a resection. Five of them underwent a reconstruction with an allograft and another five a reconstruction with prosthesis.
Results: The majority of the patients (77%) were satisfied with our information. For mortgage and life/health insurance there were consequences in 18% of the patients. The SF-36 displayed slight lower scores in all domains except for mental health. Satisfaction with the operation is connected to emotional acceptance.
Conclusions: For patients afflicted by chondrosarcoma grade I the psychological impact is enormous. Three-quarter of the patients think often about the diagnosis and 40% was concerned about the waiting time before operation. To a lesser extent, patients were concerned about the impact of the chondrosarcoma on their lives. Within both domains, psychological as well social, there is a task for the nurse practitioner or a social worker in improving care of these patients. The extent of the surgical procedure does not influence patient satisfaction. The emotional acceptance of the disease decides the level of patient satisfaction.
Correspondence should be addressed to Professor Stefan Bielack, Olgahospital, Klinikum Stuttgart, Bismarkstrasse 8, D-70176 Stuttgart, Germany. Email: s.bielack@klinikum_stuttgart.de
