Successful Diagnosis and Surgical Management of Breast Cancer in a Patient with Severe Intellectual Disability Who Refused to Leave Her Car: A Case Report

Abstract

Patients with severe intellectual disability may present unique challenges that make standard diagnostic and therapeutic pathways impossible. We report the case of a 36-year-old woman with severe intellectual disability who refused to leave her family's car throughout the diagnostic and treatment process. A multidisciplinary team developed an unconventional but safe approach, providing procedural sedation inside the vehicle to facilitate tissue diagnosis, staging investigations, and ultimately definitive surgical treatment. This patient-centred strategy allowed successful management of locally advanced breast cancer while respecting the patient's behavioural limitations.