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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Endoscopic Bilateral Nipple-sparing Mastectomy via a Single Axillary Incision with Immediate Pre-pectoral Implant-based Breast Reconstruction
Published on: May 17, 2024
Outcomes of immediate breast reconstruction in patients undergoing single-stage sentinel lymph node biopsy and
Benjamin C Wood1, Edward A Levine, Malcolm W Marks
1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Abstract:
The ability to more definitively plan breast reconstruction after obtaining final histologic analysis of the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has led several groups to advocate a staged approach to SLNB and mastectomy. Certain disadvantages are inherent in that approach, including increased patient morbidity, financial expense, and inconvenience. A retrospective review was conducted 195 procedures in which mastectomy and SLNB were performed in a single stage with immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) over a 10-year period. Long-term outcomes were analyzed within the context of patient characteristics and SLNB results. Intraoperative SLNB analysis was found to be a reliable method for planning IBR, as there were no patients noted to have untoward sequelae as a result of a false-negative SLNB, and the probability of postmastectomy radiation therapy was predictable based on the intraoperative SLNB results. We advocate that SLNB be performed in a single stage with mastectomy and IBR.
