Management of sternal wounds by limited debridement and partial bilateral pectoralis major myocutaneous advancement flaps in 25 patients: a less invasive approach.

Purpose: Because sternal wound complications after sternotomy can be life threatening and often occur in very sick patients, optimal management of these complications remains an important topic. To decrease postoperative morbidity and shorten the recovery period, the senior author (J.A.

Improving access to care: breast surgeons, the gatekeepers to breast reconstruction.

Background: Fewer than half of patients undergo reconstruction after breast cancer treatment, despite its quality of life benefits. Earlier studies demonstrated that most general surgeons do not discuss reconstructive options with patients. The aim of this study was to examine the likelihood of reconstruction within a cohort of mastectomy patients and compare rates of reconstruction between those referred and not referred for plastic surgery evaluation.

Preoperative patient education for breast reconstruction: a systematic review of the literature.

This study aims to assess the current state of patient educational tools available for the purposes of educating women about postmastectomy breast reconstruction. A systematic review of the English language literature was conducted between the years 1966 and 2009 of all studies pertaining to the use of educational materials for breast reconstruction. MEDLINE, CINAHAL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and the Science Citation Index were searched.

An operative approach to the treatment of refractory cutaneous nasal sarcoid: a case report and review of the literature.

The treatment of cutaneous sarcoid is often frustrating, because lesions may be refractory to treatment, or recurrent. There is little information in the literature regarding the surgical treatment of cutaneous sarcoid. Such treatment may become necessary in cases that do not respond to systemic treatments and create functional impairments.

The influence of AlloDerm on expander dynamics and complications in the setting of immediate tissue expander/implant reconstruction: a matched-cohort study.

AlloDerm (LifeCell, Branchburg, NJ) is gaining acceptance in tissue expander/implant (TE/I) breast reconstruction. Anecdotal evidence suggests its use limits postoperative musculoskeletal morbidity and allows injection of greater initial fill-volumes and rapid postoperative expansion. The objective of this study was to evaluate AlloDerm's impact on expansion rates in immediate TE/I reconstruction.

How should quality-of-life data be incorporated into a cost analysis of breast reconstruction? A consideration of implant versus free TRAM flap procedures.

Background: Although studies have compared the costs of implant and transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap reconstruction, none has considered how quality-of-life data would affect such an analysis.

Methods: A Markov decision analytic model was used. Medical costs associated with the two procedures were obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes.