ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: One-stage direct-to-implant (DTI) immediate breast reconstruction has proven to be an oncologically safe technique, but there are some conditions that do not allow its performance. The introduction of new surgical techniques and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have pushed us to introduce a breast reconstruction algorithm in our clinical practice. This allows a one-stage immediate reconstruction for all patients, regardless of their anatomical characteristics, the type of implants used, and the need for postoperative radiotherapy. METHODS: A total of 40 patients were recruited and divided into two cohorts, 20 patients underwent immediate one-stage breast reconstruction in the period between October 2019 and January 2021, and 20 patients completed the two-stage reconstructive process in the period prior to October 2019. During the follow-up at 6 months, all patients who had completed the reconstructive process filled out the Breast-Q Reconstruction Module Pre and Postoperative scales questionnaire. The outcomes of the questionnaires were compared between the two cohorts, and statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS Statistics 20 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: The analysis of patient-reported outcomes showed that patients from the one-stage group reported better outcomes in all items evaluated. We did not find statistically significant differences concerning the rate of complications and length of hospital stay between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of the results shows that the outcomes reported by patients who completed breast reconstruction according to our algorithm are statistically better than those with the two-stage technique.