Introduction: Non-autologous biological products are widely used in plastic surgery. However religious, cultural and ethical issues arise from their use. To date, no literature exists describing New Zealanders views regarding the acceptability of biological products used in plastic surgery.
Aim: The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly, to assess the knowledge amongst New Zealand plastic surgeons and registrars about the acceptability of biological products to members of particular religious and cultural groups. Furthermore, to assess their knowledge of the biological constituents of some commonly used products. The second part of this study was to gather public opinions about a number of issues surrounding the use of biological products.
Methods: A survey was created on SurveyMonkey® which included 13 questions including: knowledge of groups with reservations to the use of biological products and knowledge of the different components of commonly used biological products. To gather public opinion a second survey was sent out on social media to a variety of New Zealand religious and cultural groups. The survey consisted of 19 questions investigating: religious affiliation, dietary restrictions and individuals’ experience with biological products.
Results: The results showed most plastic surgery doctors had some knowledgeable regarding the acceptability of products to different religious and cultural groups. In contrast there was variability in knowledge amongst doctors and the components of the biological products. The results of the public survey showed much variation in public opinion regarding the acceptability of such products. Opinions were not always shared amongst individuals of the same religious and cultural groups.
Conclusion: Respecting cultural and religious sensitivities to the use of biological products is essential to ethical practice. Surgeons need to be knowledgeable of the constituents of these products so that they can obtain informed consent from patients.