Decision aiding in plastic surgery: a multicriteria analysis

the aim of this article is to present, through a real case, a practical way, based on multicriteria decision aiding, to support decision making in plastic surgery. the case studied was a caucasian woman of 36 years of age with mammarian hypertrophia with ptosis and abdominal lipodystrophy, making it necessary to select the most adequate techniques for the best aesthetic result. for this purpose, the multicriteria methods even swaps and proact were used. three plastic surgeons working in the city of rio de janeiro with equivalent professional experience were consulted as decision agents. in order to define the objectives to be achieved, the criteria relevant to the making of the decision and the alternatives which could be used were identified. throughout this identification and in the later analysis the surgeons participated in the application of the methods, which contributed towards facilitating their acceptance of the multicriteria analysis in their decision making. it was confirmed, in this case study, that the use of multicriteria decision aiding tends to make the medical decision more wide ranging and, above all, transparent. the plastic surgeons themselves validated the analysis, considering it fully consistent with their professional experience.