SPECTRUM OF BENIGN BREAST DISORDERS IN A RURAL POPULACE: THE PERSPECTIVE OF A RURAL HOSPITAL

Background: Benign breast diseases include infections, granulomatous inflammatory disorders, lipomas, fibrocystic disease, and fibroadenomas. Studies involving underserved populations living in rural areas reported from medical institutions situated in their localities are scarce.

Materials and Methods: We aimed to determine the proportion of benign breast diseases in a rural hospital during the COVID pandemic. A retrospective analysis of all breast disorders treated in the Department of Surgery between 01 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 was performed. Using biopsy and fine needle aspiration (FNA) registers and manually extracted case files, information such as demographic parameters, clinical history, physical examination, and investigations were obtained. The curated data was then analyzed using IBM SPSS for Windows version 22.

Results: There were 36 patients in our study, with the majority (32; 88.9%) being women. The mean age and duration of symptoms of the study population were 39.19±13.90 (range, 15-74 years) and 4.6±4.8 months (range, two weeks to 24 months), respectively.

Conclusion: Even though the number of cases may be lower, the spectrum of benign breast diseases that included fibroadenoma, gynecomastia, fibrocystic disease, phyllodes, and granulomatous mastitis is similar to that of more extensive studies from other institutions.