The impact of race and ethnicity in outpatient breast reconstruction decision-making and postoperative outcomes: A propensity score-matched NSQIP analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent literature has established outpatient breast reconstruction (BR) to be a safe alternative to inpatient BR. However, the impact of race and ethnicity on BR patient decision-making and postsurgical outcomes remains unexplored. This study aims to assess the impact of race and ethnicity on outpatient BR timing and postoperative complication rates. METHODS: The 2013-2020 ACS-NSQIP database was utilized to identify women undergoing outpatient BR. Propensity score-matched analysis was conducted to generate balanced cohorts based on race and ethnicity. t-tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess group differences. Logistic regressions were modeled to evaluate differences in complications between groups. RESULTS: A total of 63,526 patients underwent outpatient BR. After propensity score matching, 7664 patients and 3948 patients were included in the race and ethnicity-based analysis, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the timing of BR patients received across cohorts. NW patients had lower rates of immediate BR (IBR) compared with White patients (47% vs. 53%, p < 0.001), and this also was seen in Hispanic patients (97% vs. 3%, p = 0.018). Subsequently, there were higher rates of delayed BR (DBR) in the NW cohort (55% vs. 45%, p < 0.001) and in the Hispanic cohort (95% vs. 5%, p = 0.018). There were no significant differences in the rates of 30-day postoperative complications across cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Ultimately, our findings suggest that minority patients are more likely to undergo DBR than nonminority patients. However, there were no differences in 30-day postoperative outcomes across race or ethnicity. Future studies to elucidate patients' decision-making process in choosing optimal BR types and timing are necessary to better understand the impact of the observed differences in patient care.

A 10-Year Review of Surgical Outcomes at the Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland Resident Aesthetic Clinic.

Background: In 2014, the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) increased minimum aesthetic surgery requirements. Consequently, the resident aesthetic clinic (RAC) has become an ever more important modality for training plastic surgery residents. Objectives: To analyze demographics and long-term surgical outcomes of aesthetic procedures performed at the Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland (JH/UM) RAC. A secondary objective was to evaluate the JH/UM RAC outcomes against those of peer RACs as well as board-certified plastic surgeons. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent aesthetic procedures at the JH/UM RAC between 2011 and 2020. Clinical characteristics, minor complication rates, major complication rates, and revision rates from the JH/UM RAC were compared against 2 peer RACs. We compared the incidence of major complications between the JH/UM RAC and a cohort of patients from the CosmetAssure (Birmingham, AL) database. Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare complication rates between patient populations, with a significance set at 0.05. Results: Four hundred ninety-five procedures were performed on 285 patients. The major complications rate was 1.0% (n = 5). Peer RACs had total major complication rates of 0.2% and 1.7% (P = .07 and P = .47, respectively). CosmetAssure patients matched to JH/UM RAC patients were found to have comparable total major complications rates of 1.8% vs 0.6% (P = .06), respectively. At JH/UM, the minor complication rate was 13.9%, while the revision rate was 5.9%. Conclusions: The JH/UM RAC provides residents the education and training necessary to produce surgical outcomes comparable to peer RACs as well as board-certified plastic surgeons.

Mechanical tension mobilizes Lgr6+ epidermal stem cells to drive skin growth.

Uniquely among mammalian organs, skin is capable of marked size change in adults, yet the mechanisms underlying this notable capacity are unclear. Here, we use a system of controlled tissue expansion in mice to uncover cellular and molecular determinants of skin growth. Through machine learning-guided three-dimensional tissue reconstruction, we capture morphometric changes in growing skin. We find that most growth is driven by the proliferation of the epidermis in response to mechanical tension, with more limited changes in dermal and subdermal compartments. Epidermal growth is achieved through preferential activation and differentiation of Lgr6+ stem cells of the epidermis, driven in part by the Hippo pathway. By single-cell RNA sequencing, we uncover further changes in mechanosensitive and metabolic pathways underlying growth control in the skin. These studies point to therapeutic strategies to enhance skin growth and establish a platform for understanding organ size dynamics in adult mammals.

Optimizing Fixation for Distal Biceps Tendon Repairs: A Systematic Review and Meta-regression of Cadaveric Biomechanical Testing.

BACKGROUND: Various surgical techniques can be used to repair acute distal biceps tendon (DBT) tears; however, it is unknown which type of repair or implant has the greatest biomechanical strength and presents the lowest risk of type 2 failure. PURPOSE: To identify associations between the type of implant or construct used and the biomechanical performance of DBT repairs in a review of human cadaveric studies. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-regression. METHODS: We systematically searched the EMBASE and Medline (PubMed) databases for biomechanical studies that evaluated DBT repair performance in cadaveric specimens. Two independent reviewers extracted data from 14 studies that met our inclusion criteria. The pooled data set was subjected to meta-regression with adjusted failure load (AFL) as the primary outcome variable. Procedural parameters, such as number of sutures, cortices, locking stitches, and whipstitches, served as covariates. Adjusted analysis was performed to determine the differences among implant types. The alpha level was set at .05. RESULTS: When using no implant (bone tunnels) as the referent, no fixation type or procedural parameter was significantly better at predicting AFL. Cortical button fixation had the highest AFL (370 N; 95% CI, -2 to 221). In an implant-to-implant comparison, suture anchor alone was significantly weaker than cortical button (154 N; 95% CI, 30 to 279). Constructs using a cortical button and interference screw were not stronger (as measured by AFL) than those using a cortical button alone. The presence of a locking stitch added 113 N (95% CI, 29 to 196) to the AFL. The use of cortical button instead of interference screws or bone tunnels was associated with lower odds of type 2 failure. Avoiding locking stitches and using more sutures in the construct were also associated with lower odds of type 2 failure. CONCLUSION: Cortical button fixation is associated with greater construct strength than is suture anchor repair and a lower risk of type 2 failure compared with interference screw fixation or fixation without implants. The addition of an interference screw to cortical button fixation was not associated with increased strength. The presence of a locking stitch added 113 N to the failure load but also increased the odds of type 2 failure.