Table 1

Summary of Responses from 18 Melanoma Patients Who Had Previous Inguino-femoral Lymph Node Dissection (ILND)
Variable
 No.
Median age, years (range)
 56.3 (42–84)
Sex, male/female, no. patients
 9/9
Median time to postoperative drain removal, days (range)
 20.5 (5–35)
Time of daily care for draina, minutes (range)
 60 (10–120)
No. patients with WTPa = $100
 15
No. patients with WTPa = $500
 5
WTPa, dollars (range)
 175 (0–550)

No. of patients
 % of total
 % of patients ≥ 3
Discomfort

56
     1 = Not a problem
 4
 22
     2 = Mild problem
 4
 22
     3 = Moderate problem
 7
 39
     4 = Moderately severe problem
 2
 11
     5 = Severe problem
 1
 6
Getting dressed

67
     1 = Not a problem
 3
 17
     2 = Mild problem
 3
 17
     3 = Moderate problem
 4
 22
     4 = Moderately severe problem
 6
 33
     5 = Severe problem
 2
 11
Bathing

78
     1 = Not a problem
 3
 17
     2 = Mild problem
 1
 6
     3 = Moderate problem
 8
 44
     4 = Moderately severe problem
 1
 6
     5 = Severe problem
 5
 28
Sleeping

72
     1 = Not a problem
 5
 28
     2 = Mild problem
 0
 0
     3 = Moderate problem
 7
 39
     4 = Moderately severe problem
 4
 22
     5 = Severe problem
 2
 11
Importance of reducing number of days that drain in place

61
     1 = Not at all important
 4
 22
     2 = Slightly important
 3
 17
     3 = Moderately important
 4
 22
     4 = Very important
 6
 33
     5 = Critically important
 1
 6

aWTP, Willingness-to pay with out-of pocket dollars for a reduction in drain time of 4 days.

Mortenson et al. World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2008 6:63   doi:10.1186/1477-7819-6-63