Tabbed Tissue Expanders Improve Breast Symmetry Scores in Breast Reconstruction

BACKGROUND: Achieving symmetry is a key goal in breast reconstruction. Anatomically shaped tabbed expanders are a new tool in the armamentarium of the breast reconstruction surgeon. Suture tabs allow for full control over the expander position and thus inframammary fold position, and, in theory, tabbed expanders mitigate many factors responsible for poor symmetry. The impact of a tabbed expander on breast symmetry, however, has not been formally reported. This study aims to evaluate breast symmetry following expander-implant reconstruction using tabbed and non-tabbed tissue expanders. METHODS: A chart review was performed of 188 consecutive expander-implant reconstructions that met the inclusion criteria of adequate follow-up data and postoperative photographs. Demographic, oncologic, postoperative complication, and photographic data was obtained for each patient. The photographic data was scored using a 4-point scale assessing breast symmetry by three blinded, independent reviewers. RESULTS: Of the 188 patients, 74 underwent reconstruction with tabbed expanders and 114 with non-tabbed expanders. The tabbed cohort had significantly higher symmetry scores than the non-tabbed cohort (2.82/4+/-0.86 vs. 2.55/4+/-0.92, P=0.034). CONCLUSIONS: The use of tabbed tissue expanders improves breast symmetry in tissue expander-implant-based breast reconstruction. Fixation of the expander to the chest wall allows for more precise control over its location and counteracts the day-to-day translational forces that may influence the shape and location of the expander pocket, mitigating many factors responsible for breast asymmetry.

Synergistic Interactions with a High Intraoperative Expander Fill Volume Increase the Risk for Mastectomy Flap Necrosis / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Prosthetic-based breast reconstruction is performed with increasing frequency in the United States. Major mastectomy skin flap necrosis is a significant complication with outcomes ranging from poor aesthetic appearance to reconstructive failure. The present study aimed to explore the interactions between intraoperative fill and other risk factors on the incidence of flap necrosis in patients undergoing mastectomy with immediate expander/implant-based reconstruction. METHODS: A retrospective review of 966 consecutive patients (1,409 breasts) who underwent skin or nipple sparing mastectomy with immediate tissue expander reconstruction at a single institution was conducted. Age, body mass index, hypertension, smoking status, premastectomy and postmastectomy radiation, acellular dermal matrix use, and application of the tumescent mastectomy technique were analyzed as potential predictors of flap necrosis both independently and as synergistic variables with high intraoperative fill. The following three measures of interaction were calculated: relative excess risk due to interaction, attributable proportion of risk due to interaction, and synergy index (SI). RESULTS: Intraoperative tissue expander fill volume was high (> or =66.7% of the maximum volume) in 40.9% (576 of 1,409 breasts) of cases. The unadjusted flap necrosis rate was greater in the high intraoperative fill cohort than in the low fill cohort (10.4% vs. 7.1%, p=0.027). Multivariate logistic regression did not identify high intraoperative fill volume as an independent risk factor for flap necrosis (odds ratio 1.442, 95% confidence interval 0.973-2.137, p=0.068). However, four risk factors were identified that interacted significantly with intraoperative fill volume, namely tumescence, age, hypertension, and obesity. The SI, or the departure from additive risks, was largest for tumescence (SI, 25.3), followed by hypertension (SI, 2.39), obesity (SI, 2.28), and age older than 50 years (SI, 1.17). CONCLUSION: In the postmastectomy, hypovascular milieu, multiple risk factors decreasing flap perfusion interact with high intraoperative fill volume to cross a threshold and synergistically increase the risk of flap necrosis.