Background: Waikato DHB Skin Shop is a service provided by the Plastics Department for surgical excisions skin cancers under local anaesthetic in the ambulatory setting. Since 2014, margin excision data were collected to provide ongoing monitoring of the quality of the service.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of patients who had narrow and incomplete excision margins
Method: Data of narrow and incomplete surgical excision margins for non-melanoma skin cancers from 2014 to 2016 were analysed to determine if these patients required further re-excision and/or radiation therapy or surveillance.
Results: 3234 lesions were excised from Skin Shop between 2014 to 2016. 4.2% (136) were narrow and 3.2% (103) were incomplete. Of the narrow excisions, 72% required re-excision, 20% were placed under surveillance and 8% were referred for radiotherapy. For incomplete excisions, 94% underwent re-excision and only 6% were referred for radiotherapy.
Conclusion: Most of the patients with either incomplete or narrow excisions of non-melanoma skin cancers are provided further re-excisions. Clinical surveillance was used in the narrow group however not in the incomplete group. Radiotherapy was not widely used in both cohorts.