How Does Operative Time Affect Outcomes in Breast Reduction Surgery?

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Surgical Outcomes
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Reduction mammaplasty treats macromastia.
• Higher body mass index (BMI) correlates with increased complication risk.
• Impact of operative time on outcomes is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the influence of surgery length and surgeon on reduction mammaplasty outcomes.
• Identify key predictors of complications in this procedure.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of bilateral reduction mammaplasty patients (Jan 2020 - Aug 2024).
• Multivariable regression analysis assessing operative time, BMI, and surgeon.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for complication prediction modeling.

Main Results:

• 102 patients analyzed; average BMI 33.4, average surgery length 229.7 min.
• Overall complication rate was 24.5%.
• Operative time alone did not significantly increase complications, but surgeon, operative time, and BMI together predicted outcomes (AUC=0.65, P=0.04).

Conclusions:

• Operative time does not appear to independently alter reduction mammaplasty complication rates.
• Incorporating surgeon into predictive models with operative time and BMI significantly improves complication discrimination.
• Highlights the critical role of surgeon experience in patient outcomes for reduction mammaplasty.