Previous multiple abdominal surgeries: a valid contraindication to abdominal free flap breast reconstruction?

PRESENTED IN PART AT THE FOLLOWING ACADEMIC MEETINGS: 57th Meeting of the Italian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, September 24-27, 2008, Naples, Italy.45th Congress of the European Society for Surgical Research (ESSR), June 9-12, 2010, Geneva, Switzerland.British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons Summer Scientific Meeting, June 30-July 2, 2010, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK.

Patients with previous multiple abdominal surgeries are often denied abdominal free flap breast reconstruction because of concerns about flap viability and abdominal wall integrity. We therefore studied their flap and donor site outcomes and compared them to patients with no previous abdominal surgery to find out whether this is a valid contraindication to the use of abdominal tissue.

Twenty patients with multiple previous abdominal operations who underwent abdominal free flap breast reconstruction by a single surgeon (C.M.M., 2000-2009) were identified and retrospectively compared with a cohort of similar patients without previous abdominal surgery (sequential allocation control group, n = 20).

The index and control groups were comparable in age, body mass index, comorbidities, previous chemotherapy, and RT exposure. The index patients had a mean age of 54 years (r, 42-63) and an average body mass index of 27.5 kg/m(2) (r, 22-38). The main previous surgeries were Caesarean sections (19), hysterectomies (8), and cholecystectomies (6). They underwent immediate (n = 9) or delayed (n = 11) reconstructions either unilaterally (n = 18) or bilaterally (n = 2) and comprising 9 muscle-sparing free transverse rectus abdominis muscle and 13 deep inferior epigastric perforator flaps. All flaps were successful, and there were no significant differences in flap and donor site outcomes between the 2 groups after an average follow up of 26 months (r, 10-36).

Multiple previous abdominal surgeries did not predispose to increased flap or donor site morbidity. On the basis of our experience, we have proposed some recommendations for successful abdominal free flap breast reconstruction in patients with previous multiple scars. Careful preoperative planning and the use of some intraoperative adaptations can allow abdominal free flap breast reconstruction to be reliably undertaken in such patients.