Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Immediate DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction: Reducing Length of Stay and Opioid Use.

To improve patient outcomes amid reduced healthcare resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, a single Canadian cancer center implemented an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol for autologous DIEP flap breast reconstruction. This retrospective cohort study included 100 consecutive patients undergoing microsurgical breast reconstruction with DIEP flaps using the ERAS protocol and 100 patients using a standard protocol. Primary outcomes were the hospital length of stay and opioid use.

Short-term versus extended chemoprophylaxis against venous thromboembolism in DIEP flap breast reconstruction: A retrospective study of 424 patients.

Background: Autologous breast reconstruction is considered high-risk for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and thromboembolism (PE). It is therefore recommended to treat patients undergoing these complex and lengthy procedures with DVT chemoprophylaxis. The optimal anticoagulation protocol is still not established.

Staged Mastopexy before Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: Improving Safety and Appearance in Breast Reconstruction.

Background: Breast reconstruction following nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) in patients with large or ptotic breasts remains challenging because of the risk of ischemic complications and the difficulty in managing the redundant skin envelope. Staged mastopexy or breast reduction before the mastectomy/reconstruction has been shown to decrease the risk of complications and improve clinical outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of patients with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer who underwent staged breast reduction/mastopexy before NSM and reconstruction in the authors' institution.

BREAST-Q Patient-reported Outcomes in Different Types of Breast Reconstruction after Fat Grafting.

Unlabelled: Breast reconstruction after mastectomy improves patient quality of life. Independently of the type of reconstruction, ancillary procedures are sometimes necessary to improve results. Fat grafting to the breast is a safe procedure with excellent results.

Immediate fine-tuning of DIEP flaps using the Wise pattern mastectomy: Description of the technique and a retrospective analysis of complication rates.

Introduction: Elliptical skin-sparing mastectomy in patients with large or ptotic breasts usually leaves loose mastectomy skin flaps, which need to be either resected or gathered over the DIEP flap. This results in poor control of the breast footprint and under-projected DIEP flaps in a loose mastectomy skin pocket, that tend to slip laterally towards the axilla. We believe that the use of a Wise pattern mastectomy will allow for immediate treatment of these concerns.