Quality of life after breast reconstruction: comparison of three methods

An anonymous questionnaire was sent to 118 women who had their breasts reconstructed at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, from 1992-2001. The questionnaire included 36 questions scored on 6-point scales. Seventy-nine women returned a filled-in questionnaire. Five reconstruction methods had been used, but only implants (n = 32), lateral thoracodorsal flaps (n = 18), and transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flaps (n = 12) had an acceptable number of cases for analysis. A total of 62 patients were included. Most of the cosmetic results differed significantly between the groups. Three-quarters of the patients in the TRAM group were very satisfied with the overall cosmetic results, compared with 11/18 in the lateral thoracodorsal flap group and 11/32 in the implant group. There were general good effects in all groups from the physical, social, and psychological points of view with no significant differences between them. However, achieving symmetry between breasts and the satisfaction about information given to patients about the procedures were two areas that fell short. Fifty (81%) of the 62 women would have recommended the operation to a friend under similar conditions.