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TikTok Famous: Can One Viral Video Affect Your Plastic Surgery Practice?
Anthony DeLeonibus MD, Viren Patel MD, Ian Zelko, DO, Michael Wells MEng, Samantha Maasarani, MD MPH, Daniel Bahat, MD, Vikas Kotha MD, Bahar Bassiri Gharb MD PhD, Antonio Rampazzo MD PhD
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
2023-02-09
Presenter: Anthony DeLeonibus
Affidavit:
Certify the presentation has not been published or previously presented
Director Name: Steven Bernard, MD
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Breast (Aesthetic and Recon.)
Introduction
Social media is known to have a significant impact on referrals and patient interest for plastic surgeons. However, no study has examined how patient's social media posts can affect a plastic surgery practice. Here, we quantified how one patient-generated viral TikTok impacted the practice of an academic plastic surgeon.
Methods
A retrospective review of the senior author's electronic medical record clinic schedule from the nine months before and after the viral TikTok video post-date (January 2021 to September 2022). All new patient consultations for macromastia were recorded and compared between time periods.
Results
A total of 2,275 office visits were included. Consultations for breast reductions doubled after the TikTok video post-date when comparing time periods (Before: 52 vs After: 110 consultations). Proportion of office visits with new consultations for breast reduction significantly increased (Before: 5.1% vs After: 10.5%; p<0.001). A total of 22 breast reductions were performed by the senior author in period prior to the video post-date, compared to 40 surgeries in the nine months after the viral TikTok post-date. There was not a significant difference in operations per consultations between the two periods (p=0.80).
Conclusion
In this study, we showed that a single, viral TikTok video was associated with a two-fold increase in consultations for reduction mammoplasty, even in the setting of a COVID-19 surge in our area leading to surgical shutdowns. This is the first study to link a patient-generated social media post to a quantifiable change in surgeon clinic consultation referrals and surgical volume.
