Role of Surgery in the Management of Female Breast Cancer in Two Referral Hospitals in Southern Benin

Introduction: Breast cancer is a major public health problem. Its management is particularly difficult in countries with limited resources. Surgery is sometimes the only therapeutic option available. Our objective was to study the place of surgery in this management in the Republic of Benin.
Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical multicenter study that included medical records of patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer over the period from January 2013 to October 2019 in two university hospitals in Cotonou, southern Republic of Benin.
Results: The 141 included patients had an average age of 47.2 years. Surgery was of curative intent in 84.4% of cases. Mastectomy was the most common treatment (92.9%). The Patey technique modified by Madden (81.56%) was the most used technique. The overall morbidity was 8.5% dominated by postoperative hematoma. The other therapeutic methods used were chemotherapy (95.7%) and radiotherapy (37.8%).
Conclusion: Breast cancer surgery is dominated in our context by mastectomy. The development of conservative surgery and oncoplasty, associated with a policy of organized screening program and better access to radiotherapy, will improve the supply of care.