Welcome to the latest issue of the Australian Breast Device Registry (ABDR) update. 

National recruitment

Despite #COVID-19, the ABDR continues to grow. Our sincere thanks go to Australians undergoing breast device surgery, their surgeons, and health care facilities for supporting our important work. The 290+ participating sites are listed here.

We may be working remotely, however our work continues.

Contacting the PROMs (patient reported outcome measures) team

For enquiries about PROMs e.g to change answers, answer over the phone, or to report difficulty accessing questions, the best way to contact the PROMs team during COVID-19 restrictions is to email your query to abdr-proms@monash.edu. Alternatively, call Ying Khu on (03) 99030132 or leave a message on 1800 930 989 and Ying will get back to you.

ABDR In-service education

“Thank you so much for your time this afternoon, we all really enjoyed the session.  We all feel more confident to fill out the forms and to educate other staff.” (In-service training webinar recipient.)

Bring your theatre team up to date on the registry’s purpose, progress and processes. To book your online session please contact Judy on (03) 9903 0205 or email abdr@monash.edu.  CPD points awarded.

News in Brief:

• In May this year, the TGA announced the cancellation of five breast device products from the Australian market, and the suspension of three products for a further six months. Sponsors of the suspended devices have until 24 October 2020 to address safety and performance concerns.
• ABDR Surgeon reports – The ABDR has sent off the last of individual practice reports to more than 400 contributing surgeons. Details included device type, operation categories, reason for insertion and revision of device, issues identified at revision, incision sites and surgical plane (augmentation and reconstruction) and intraoperative techniques.
• New surgeons –  If a new surgeon joins a health service, please advise them that your facility supports the ABDR and notify our team, who will follow up with the surgeon directly.
• ABDR PROMs SMS –  SMS links to the short 5-question survey continue to yield the highest rate of PROMs (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) completion. In the event that SMS is not an option, patients may be invited to participate via a landline, email or letter. Patients are contacted at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years after surgery.

Recent publications:

• Ng S, Kirkman M, Fisher J, Pusic A, Parker E, Cooter RD, Elder E, Moore C, McNeil J, Hopper I. Establishing the acceptability of a brief patient reported outcome measure and feasibility of implementing it in a breast device registry – a qualitative study. J Patient Rep Outcomes. 2019 Oct 22;3(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s41687-019-0152-z.
• The 2019 annual report is on track to be released later this year.
• Published ABDR papers are listed here.