A new study shows that immediate placement of breast implants after undergoing a mastectomy for breast cancer may be a valuable reconstructive option for some women. The study was published in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Though authors acknowledge this reconstructive method may not be appropriate for all women, they found immediate implant-based reconstruction produced “very good aesthetic results” and a low complication rate, overall, according to Dr. Christopher A. Crisera and his colleagues of the University of California Los Angeles.
Crisera and co-authors reported the results of immediate implant placement in 35 women undergoing mastectomies. The women’s average age was 45 and most underwent a double mastectomy, having both breasts immediately reconstructed. In the procedures, silicone-gel implants were immediately placed after the mastectomies.
The results of the procedures were assessed 15 months later. Six of the 35 women (16.6 percent) had some kind of complication, but only one of these complications was serious enough to result in the removal of the implant. Thirty-seven percent of the women required additional surgery. Aesthetic results, rated on a scale from 1 to 4, averaged at 3.19.
Compared with other methods of reconstruction after mastectomy, immediate implant placement offers several possible advantages, authors said. Immediate reconstruction can reduce the need for multiple surgical procedures and associated costs, lessen some psychological distress related to mastectomies, and reduce hospital days and costs. In the study, the average hospital stay was less than two days.
"We believe that the possible advantages of immediate single stage implant based reconstruction, such as the potential to complete reconstruction with fewer operations and in less time and cost warrant its use in the appropriately selected patient,” Dr. Crisera and co-authors concluded.
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