Breast Surgery

Condition	Recommended return to non-manual	Recommended return to manual	Factors affecting return to work
Breast benign lumpectomy	1-2 days[1]	2 weeks
Breast benign lumpectomy	1 week
Breast cancer wide local excision and sentinel node biopsy	1-2 weeks[1]	2-3 weeks[1]	Assuming no adjuvant therapy which can substantially delay recovery. Psychological impact of diagnosis can also have an impact on the motivation to return to work. Some women are able to work while having chemotherapy and radiotherapy, although this would often require adjustments to hours and good support from the employer. Where there is a long delay, regular contact with work and the expectation of an eventual return are very important.
Breast cancer wide local excision and sentinel node biopsy	2 weeks[2]	6 weeks[2]
Breast cancer wide local excision or mastectomy and axillary clearance	4-6 weeks[1]	6-12 weeks[1]
	4-8 weeks	4-8 weeks
	2 weeks[2]	6 weeks[2]
Breast cancer with radiotherapy and endocrine therapy	3 months[3]	3 months[3]
Breast cancer with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy and herceptin	up to 9 months[3]	up to 9 months[3]

[1] Samuel AM, Wellwood JMcK. Fitness for work after surgery. In Palmer KT, Cox RAF and Brown I. (Eds) Fitness for Work 4th edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007 pp 467-486.
[2] Royal College of Surgeons of England.
[3] NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Recommendations based on formal analysis of evidence are in red. Where only some evidence is available, the figures are in blue, and the relevant references are provided. Consensus-based guidelines are in black.