Close and incomplete excision margins in non-melanoma skin cancer: A tertiary plastic surgery center experience

<p>Dear Sir,</p> <p>Non-melanoma  skin cancers (NMSC) are the commonest skin cancers, treated by  specialists. Previous national audit data have reported incomplete  excision rates of around 2.3–3%.<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1748681523000438?via=ihub#bib1" target="_blank">1</a>  Nolan et al. published NMSC incomplete excision rates by operating  specialty (dermatology, plastic surgery and general practitioners (GP));  the lowest incomplete excision rates were by dermatologists with 6.2%  for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/basal-cell-carcinoma" target="_blank">basal cell carcinoma</a> (BCC) and 4.7% for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1748681523000438?via=ihub#bib1" target="_blank">1</a>  In contrast, the highest incomplete excision rates were by GPs (20.4%  for BCCs, 19.9% for SCCs). For plastic surgery, results were  intermediate with rates of 9.4% for BCCs and 8.2% for SCCs. Our  experience of treating NMSCs in our plastic surgery tertiary referral  center during the recent pandemic is presented...</p>