[Shoulder movements after mammectomy with conservation of muscle. Report of 100 cases]

One hundred patients were treated by a Patey type conservative radical mammectomy with or without associated radiotherapy. Objective numerically rated comparison of the frequency and degree of limitation of the different shoulder movements after surgical treatment alone showed that abduction was the movement most markedly and frequently limited. This was followed, in decreasing order of frequency and degree, by limitation of amplitude, anterior flexion, external rotation, posterior flexion, and internal rotation. In cases with associated radiotherapy, highest percentages of maximal imitation for each movement occurred in those undergoing pre-operative cobalt therapy, and particularly involved abduction, posterior flexion, and external rotation. Patey type mammectomy provides improved functional results when compared with the classical Halsted's operation, but its technique has still to be perfected, a useful basis for this being a detailed analysis of its possible sequelae.