Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2025
Endoscopic Bilateral Nipple-sparing Mastectomy via a Single Axillary Incision with Immediate Pre-pectoral Implant-based Breast Reconstruction
Published on: May 17, 2024
Adverse Outcome of Two-Staged Breast Reconstruction: More Than One Culprit
Alexandra Caziuc1, Vlad Fagarasan1, Giorgiana Fagarasan1
11st Surgical Clinic, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Background:
Two-stage prosthetic breast reconstruction with initial insertion of a tissue expander followed by change-over to an implant after a period of inflation has become a well-established option in breast reconstruction. Our aim was to analyze the feasibility of two-stage breast reconstruction in our center by following the surgical technique, number of complications and associated risk factors.
Patients And Methods:
We studied 91 patients who underwent skin sparring mastectomy and tissue expander placement in our surgical unit, between January 2017 and December 2021. Axillary surgery was performed in all patients. We collected data on age, smoker status, breast size, comorbidities, tumor characteristics, neoadjuvant treatment and surgical intervention details.
Results:
Skin necrosis (12.08%) and seroma (16.48%) were the most common complications. 7.69% of the patients required reintervention. Patients underwent delayed reconstruction after more than 6 months in 69.7% of the cases, while the overall reconstruction rate was 86.08%. Smoker status, an increased body mass index, comorbidities, neoadjuvant treatment, type of incision and location of the implant were the main factors that led to adverse outcomes.
Conclusions:
Tissue expanders are a viable option for reconstruction; however, we observed a higher incidence of skin complications in smokers and in cases where periareolar incision was used.
