Total mastectomy under local anesthesia: the tumescent technique

The management of breast cancer in elderly women is controversial. Breast cancer in this age group tends to be biologically less aggressive and is highly responsive to hormonal intervention. The risk of dying of other causes often exceeds the risk of cancer recurrence. For these reasons, older patients tend to be treated less aggressively. One large study of elderly women with breast cancer found that half of the patients were undertreated. Four patients (mean age 72 years, range 61-95 years) underwent a unilateral total mastectomy for cancer under local anesthesia using the tumescent technique of infiltrating dilute lidocaine with epinephrine (25 ml of 1% lidocaine [250 mg] and 1 ml of 1:1000 epinephrine [1 mg] to 1 L of Ringers lactate) via an infusion pump. Three of the patients had estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors and one patient had tumor progression despite switching from tamoxifen to anastrozole. All four patients were class IV as defined by the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA). There was no morbidity related to the surgery in the form of hematoma, wound infection, or skin flap necrosis. The patients were discharged 1-4 days after surgery. The anesthesia was adequate in all four cases and there was no deviation from the described technique. The mean operative time was 35 minutes (range 24-46 minutes). The tumescent technique is a safe, effective method for performing a total mastectomy in patients who would not be considered candidates for general anesthesia.