Impact of mastectomy flap necrosis on prepectoral reconstructive outcomes.

Introduction: As reconstructive surgeons have increasingly transitioned to the prepectoral plane for prosthetic breast reconstruction, the implications of mastectomy skin flap necrosis have become more concerning. Our goal was to evaluate the effect of skin flap necrosis on reconstructive outcomes in patients undergoing immediate prepectoral breast reconstruction.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of patients undergoing immediate two-stage prepectoral reconstruction at a single center with at least 3 months follow-up.

The challenging patient in autologous breast reconstruction: obesity, breast ptosis and beyond.

Autologous breast reconstruction has consistently demonstrated excellent patient satisfaction, ideal aesthetic results, and a low risk of complications. With the increasing incidence of breast cancer diagnoses and higher reconstruction rates, surgeons encounter a broader spectrum of patients. Obese patients undergoing breast reconstruction are more likely to experience a surgical complication.

Sarcopenia Best Predicts Complications in Free Flap Breast Reconstruction.

Unlabelled: Breast reconstruction remains a major component of the plastic surgeon's repertoire, especially free-flap breast reconstruction (FFBR), though this is a high-risk surgery in which patient selection is paramount. Preoperative predictors of complication remain mixed in their utility. We sought to determine whether the sarcopenia score, a validated measure of physiologic health, outperforms the body mass index (BMI) and modified frailty index (mFI) in terms of predicting outcomes.

Same-Day Discharge for Immediate Breast Reconstruction: A National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Study.

Background: Patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with tissue expanders are frequently admitted after surgery for monitoring and pain control, which introduces additional costs and risks of nosocomial infection. Same-day discharge could conserve resources, mitigate risk, and return patients home for faster recovery. The authors used large data sets to investigate the safety of same-day discharge after mastectomy with immediate postoperative expander placement.

The Ideal Microsurgery Fellowship: A Survey of Fellows and Fellowship Directors.

Background:  Although microsurgery fellowships have existed since the 1980s, there is no established curriculum. Microsurgery fellowships vary greatly in clinical caseload, case diversity, and training resources, and there is no consensus on the appropriate composition of a microsurgery fellowship. This study surveys fellowship directors (FD) and recent microsurgery fellows (MFs), graduates, to describe the ideal microsurgery fellowship program.

Detailed analysis of the impact of surgeon and hospital volume in microsurgical breast reconstruction.

Background: Prior investigations of microsurgical breast reconstruction have not distinguished the effects of surgeon versus hospital volume and failed to address the effect of patient clustering. Our data-driven analysis aims to determine the impacts of surgeon and hospital volume on outcomes of microsurgical breast reconstruction.

Methods: Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data from 2008 to 2011 was analyzed for patients who underwent microsurgical breast reconstruction.

Impact of Prior Tissue Expander/Implant on Postmastectomy Free Flap Breast Reconstruction.

Background: Implant-based breast reconstructions can result in unsatisfactory results requiring surgical revision or salvage reconstructive surgery with autologous tissue. This study compares the outcomes and complications of salvage (tertiary) flap reconstruction after failed prosthesis placement to those of primary/secondary flap reconstruction.

Methods: All patients undergoing free flap breast reconstruction after failed prosthesis between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2014, were identified.

The use of negative pressure wound therapy in severe open lower extremity fractures: identifying the association between length of therapy and surgical outcomes.

Background: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a widely accepted method of temporary coverage for complex lower extremity wounds before definitive reconstruction. However, the precise role of NPWT in the perioperative management of patients with complicated lower extremity injuries remains unclear. In this study, we examine the effect of NPWT on flap complications and overall outcomes based on timing of soft-tissue reconstruction relative to initial injury and implementation of NPWT.

Implant-based immediate breast reconstruction in the previously augmented patient.

Background: Millions of women have undergone augmentation mammaplasty with implants and breast cancer continuing to be the most common non-cutaneous malignancy in female patients. Reconstructive surgeons will inevitably encounter breast cancer patients with prior augmentation. Implant-based techniques represent the most common form of breast reconstruction overall and remains a common option among those who were previously augmented.

Microvascular lifeboats: a stepwise approach to intraoperative venous congestion in DIEP flap breast reconstruction.

The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap is becoming a widely practiced method of autologous breast reconstruction. Although it has been shown to be a safe and reliable technique with acceptable morbidity, disadvantages include a comparatively higher incidence of venous congestion and total flap loss compared with autologous reconstruction with a pedicled or free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap. Venous congestion is reported in up to one-third of cases of breast reconstruction with a DIEP flap.

The effect of prior abdominal surgery on abdominally based free flaps in breast reconstruction.

Background: The abdomen has long remained the preferred donor site in breast reconstruction. Over time, the flap has evolved to limit morbidity with reduced muscular harvest. Previous abdominal operations, however, may limit the ability to perform a muscle- or fascia-sparing flap.

Factors influencing patient interest in plastic surgery and the process of selecting a surgeon.

Background: Understanding patient interest in cosmetic surgery is an important tool in delineating the current market for aesthetic surgeons. Similarly, defining those factors that most influence surgeon selection is vital for optimizing marketing strategies.

Objective: The authors evaluate a general population sample's interest in cosmetic surgery and investigate which factors patients value when selecting their surgeon.

Effects of radiation therapy for breast cancer based on type of free flap reconstruction.

Background: Adjuvant radiation therapy for locally advanced breast cancer decreases local recurrence and improves survival. Immediate autologous breast reconstruction before postmastectomy irradiation is highly controversial. However, it is presently unknown whether there exist differences in the durability of various autologous flaps (myocutaneous or fasciocutaneous) to the effects of radiation.

Salvage rates of compromised free flap breast reconstruction after recurrent thrombosis.

Background: Microvascular complications after free flap breast reconstruction are devastating problems that increase patient morbidity and potentially lead to flap loss. Yet, there is a dearth of literature about rates of free flap salvage after recurrent vascular thromboses.

Methods: A retrospective review of all patients undergoing microvascular breast reconstruction at UCLA Medical Center from January 1991 to June 2010 was conducted.

Comparison of immediate implant placement versus the staged tissue expander technique in breast reconstruction.

Background: Tissue expansion is currently the most common method used in prosthetic breast reconstruction. Skin-sparing mastectomy techniques have facilitated immediate placement of a permanent implant. Proposed benefits to immediate implants include less time and fewer operations to complete reconstruction.

The volume-outcome relationship for immediate breast reconstruction.

Background: Efforts to improve the quality of surgical care in the United States have led many organizations to advocate the use of high-volume hospitals for complex surgical procedures and/or comprehensive multidisciplinary care. The benefits, if any, of selective referral to high-volume hospitals for immediate breast reconstruction are relatively unknown. It is this gap in knowledge that forms the basis for the current study.

Comparison of implant-based immediate breast reconstruction with and without acellular dermal matrix.

Background: Acellular dermal matrix is frequently used in implant-based breast reconstruction to cover the inferior aspect of the breast pocket. Its performance profile remains equivocal. The authors studied whether adding it in implant-based immediate breast reconstruction improved outcomes when compared with non-acellular dermal matrix reconstruction.

Vascular complications and microvascular free flap salvage: the role of thrombolytic agents.

Background: Vascular thrombosis with flap loss is the most dreaded complication of microvascular free tissue transfer. Thrombolytic agents such as tissue plasminogen activator have been used clinically for free flap salvage in cases of pedicle thrombosis. Yet, there is a paucity of data in the literature validating the benefit of their use.

Immediate placement of implants in breast reconstruction: patient selection and outcomes.

Background: With the advent of skin-sparing mastectomy techniques, it became clear that immediate placement of an implant could be utilized for breast reconstruction in select patients. The authors assessed the safety, patient selection factors, and aesthetic results with this technique.

Methods: Thirty-five consecutive patients (eight unilateral and 27 bilateral) who underwent immediate implant-based breast reconstruction were analyzed.

Assessment of advanced age as a risk factor in microvascular breast reconstruction.

Background: The population of elderly people is the fastest growing population in the United States. Because breast cancer typically affects the elderly population, surgeons will be performing more mastectomies in older patients. In this study, we evaluate the risks of microvascular breast reconstruction as a function of increasing age.

Immediate free flap reconstruction for advanced-stage breast cancer: is it safe?

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that immediate breast reconstruction following mastectomy is associated with improvements in quality of life and body image. However, immediate breast reconstruction for advanced-stage breast cancer remains controversial. This study evaluates its safety in patients with advanced-stage breast cancer.

Staged wise-pattern skin excision for reconstruction of the large and ptotic breast.

Background: The postmastectomy reconstruction of large and/or ptotic breasts poses a more difficult aesthetic challenge than the reconstruction of small or moderately sized breasts because of an excessively large skin envelope in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. The Wise-pattern skin excision best addresses this excess skin but is associated with a high incidence of tissue necrosis with subsequent wound breakdown, primarily at the T point. To optimize the aesthetic potential and minimize complications in the setting of these large skin envelopes, the authors have deconstructed the single-stage Wise-pattern skin excision into a two-stage procedure, eliminating the need for a primary simultaneous T-point closure.