Chest Surgery in Female to Male Transgender Individuals.

BACKGROUND: Societal awareness of transgender individuals has led to increased acceptance and demand for sex-confirming surgery. In female to male transsexuals, the most common procedure is removal of breast tissue to masculinize the chest. METHODS: Eighty-eight transgender patients underwent either a subcutaneous nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) with or without a periareolar mastopexy or nipple reduction, or bilateral mastectomies with free nipple grafts (MFNG) with or without nipple reduction. Surgical techniques are discussed. Demographic data, use of testosterone, specimen weights, rates of wound dehiscence, infection, hematoma, hypertrophic scars, nipple loss, and revision surgery were all assessed. RESULTS: Of the 88 patients in the study, 40 underwent NSM and 48 underwent MFNG. Patients undergoing NSM were 4.1 times more likely to have a hematoma compared with patients undergoing MFNG (P <0.05). Mastectomy weight was not correlated with the occurrence of hematoma (P >0.80). Only 1 patient who underwent NSM required revision, whereas 5 patients in the MFNG patient population underwent revision. Patients were more likely to have hypertrophic scarring with the MFNG technique (0% vs 25%, P < 0.01) There were no infections, no wound dehiscence, and no nipple loss in any patient. Eighty-three percent of the patients who responded to a satisfaction survey (57/88) were very satisfied with their result, and 100% would recommend this procedure to other transgender individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Female to male transgender mastectomy can be performed with low complication rates and high satisfaction. Nipple-sparing mastectomy were more likely to have a hematoma than patients undergoing MFNG.

The "Inside-out" Technique for Hernia Repair with Mesh Underlay.

BACKGROUND: An improved method for mesh repair of ventral/incisional hernias after component separation is presented. The use of a Carter-Thomason suture passer (Cooper Surgical, http://www.coopersurgical.com) allows for safe passage of preplaced sutures on the mesh from within the abdominal cavity through the anterior rectus sheath. This "inside-out" method makes the underlay of mesh fast and easy by improving visualization and control of sharp instruments as they are passed through the abdominal cavity. Preplacement of sutures circumferentially on the mesh also improves the distribution of tension around the repair, which may ultimately reduce the risk of hernia recurrence. METHODS: The "inside-out" technique was performed on 23 patients at a single tertiary academic medical center from November 2011 to February 2014. We have followed these patients for a median of 24.5 months to assess for postoperative complications and hernia recurrence. RESULTS: We report an acceptable hernia recurrence rate (2 of 23 = 8.7%). One recurrence was observed in a patient who underwent repair of a recurrent ventral hernia and the other had significant loss of domain requiring an inlay mesh. CONCLUSIONS: The "inside-out" technique for ventral hernia repair with a mesh underlay after component separation using a Carter-Thomason suture passer is easy, safe, and reliable. We have observed no hernia recurrence in patients who underwent repair for a primary ventral hernia with an underlay technique.