ISAR is a charity set up to promote best education and clinical practice in the field of auricular reconstruction. To that end the executive committee intend to make two annual awards of 1,000 euros to support the promotion of best clinical practice in the field of auricular reconstruction or surgery for microtia and atresia internationally.
Post-operative patients questionnaire
Whether it is to secure funding or to keep improving results, I am sure that many of you, like our team, will be looking for ways to collate feedback from you patients.
Two of the UK teams have collaborated to produce a patient reported outcome and experience measure soon to be published in JPRAS. It may not be perfect but for our patients it seems to be easy to use and produces outcomes consistent with our own assessments.
We have been looking for a way to make the tool easily accessible to all units and have come across the excellent typeform platform based in Barcelona. This allows easy access to results and allows individuals to download results in an excel spreadsheet- produce graphs etc. We therefore wonder if this might allow units to not only collate feedback in their own results but also allow international comparison. Units could also choose whether or not to share.
To that end below is a link that will allow you to trial the questionaire but also to provide us feedback i the idea. Perhaps we can discuss the idea in the forthcoming Beijing meeting. If it proves popular then hosting via the ISAR website might be a possibility.
We are, by the way, aware that others are developing other PROM questionnaires that focus more on psychometric outcomes. It maybe that if they prove popular a combination of anatomical and psychometric outcomes would provide the richest feedback.
With the above in mind we would be very grateful if you could take the time to try our questionaire and to provide feedback using the following link:
https://lucalanc.typeform.com/to/ke0bhS
UK Standards for the Management of Patients with Microtia and Atresia
ISAR Treasurer, Dr Ken Stewart of Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh has significantly contributed to the UK Standards for the Management of Patients with Microtia and Atresia document which you can find the link to below.
UK Standards for the Management of Patients with Microtia and Atresia Document
Patients born with microtia and aural atresia have a complex craniofacial condition that may impact on all aspects of their lives. It is essential that these patients and their families have access to specialised microtia teams able to provide up to date and unbiased information. A multidisciplinary approach should be taken to provide holistic, individualised assessments and interventions. This should encompass cosmetic, audiological and psychological aspects of their care.
Close liaison between local services and the ear reconstruction team is a key component to achieving the best outcomes for these patients. There is a recognised need for agreed care standards for these patients, and this document aims to reflect a consensual view of how this care can be provided in an integrated fashion. It has been produced by a collaboration of professionals working in the field and with stakeholder organisations.