Evaluation of Factors Related to Postoperative Complications in Patients Who Underwent Reduction Mammoplasty

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether there was an increase in the number of postoperative complications in patients undergoing reductionmammoplasty depending on the technique used (i.e., pedicle type, skin incision pattern), existence of concomitant diseases, and presence of other riskfactors.Materials and Methods: A total of 186 patients who underwent breast reduction between 2013 and 2018 (bilateral, n = 170; unilateral, n = 16) wereincluded in the study. A retrospective review of the data of patients who underwent reduction mammoplasty, which was performed by the same surgical teamin a single institution over a 6-year period, was carried out. Superomedial, superior, and inferior pedicles were used in 99, 55, and 32 patients, respectively.The median follow-up period was 4 years.Results: The median patient age was 45 (range: 16–75) years. The median total reduction weight was 2,194 (range: 80–4,800) grams. The mediandistance between the sternal notch and nipple was 31 cm (range: 24–45 cm) for the right breast and 30 cm (range: 22–45 cm) for the left breast. The overallcomplication rate was 6.9%. The complication rates in patients with and without any concomitant diseases were 10.2% and 4.6%, respectively. The overallcomplication rate was significantly higher in patients with smoking habit, accessory breasts, progesterone use, cerebrovascular disease, morbid obesity (BodyMass Index ≥40 kg/m2), and thalassemia.Conclusion: Our analysis shows that the presence of concomitant diseases increases the risk for postoperative complications in patients who underwentreduction mammoplasty. Our findings do not suggest that any of the techniques have significant superiority to each other in terms of pedicle safety andoverall complication rate.