Prevention of Body Image Disorder by Nurse Intervention on the Patient and Family Prior to Breast and Colon Surgery

Cancer is one of the most important public health problems on a global scale in the 21st century. The National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases highlights, among the most frequent neoplasms, prostate cancer, colon-rectum, lung in men and breast, colon-rectum in women.

One of the main treatments to be able to approach this type of tumors, such as breast and colorectal, is surgery. There are different surgical procedures (conservative surgery, mastectomy, ostomy) that, in a forceful way, affect the body image of the individual, sometimes generating extreme and painful situations. They are procedures that carry biopsychosocial implications and that generate a change in lifestyle.

A better psychological preparation and an effective health education of the patient prior to surgery (consisting of providing the information of the intervention, providing psychological support during the entire surgical process and reporting on the changes that will occur), balance the characteristic stressful trait of surgery, thus decreasing the level of anxiety of the individual.

In order for the patient to overcome this change in his body image, the role played by his immediate family member is fundamental, not only because it helps him improve the quality of life that he will have during the course of his illness, but also because an adequate emotional state can improve the patient's therapeutic response.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the body image disorder suffered by patients with breast and colorectal cancer after undergoing surgery, comparing the group that received a previous nursing intervention with their immediate family member, compared to the patients who received this intervention without him.