Dr. Sisco Discusses Complications After Bilateral and Unilateral Mastectomies with Immediate Reconstruction

Mark Sisco, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, NorthShore University HealthSystem, discusses the results of a NSQIP analysis of 30-day complications after bilateral versus unilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction.

Sisco says the NSQIP includes data from about 400 hospitals from around the world and collects data from patients for 30 days after surgery. The analysis only included patients with breast cancer and examined the differences in complications between patients who had a double mastectomy and a single mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction.

Sisco says the study found that the overall rate of medical complications was very low. Having a double mastectomy, regardless of the type of reconstruction, did not appear to affect medical complications, the study showed. However, women who had implant based reconstruction had significant higher rates of implant loss or complications that required removal of the implant, Sisco says. These patients also had a higher rate of re-operation within 30 days.

Sisco says the study also found that all patients, regardless of how they were reconstruction, had a higher risk of requiring a transfusion and had a longer length of stay in the hospital

<<<

View more from the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium