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Place implants prepectoral with vertical incision in immediate breast reconstruction

For patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction, researchers propose placing implants prepectoral with a vertical mastectomy incision, dermal flap and a saline implant with mesh/acellular dermal matrix fixation.

This is an alternative to submuscular placement of prosthetic devices, which is the most common method and associated with postoperative complications.

Thirty-one patients (62 breasts) underwent immediate implant-based prepectoral breast reconstruction using a vertical incision as a single-staged procedure.

Postoperative complications were seen in nine patients, six of which resolved with postoperative intervention and only two cases resulted in implant loss.

Researchers found this technique achieves excellent results, has a low complication rate and implant loss, while eliminating some of the problems with submuscular prosthetic placement.

The technique is also appropriate for a high percentage of patients including those the ptotic and/or large breasts, or small breasts.

Patients also experienced less postoperative pain and a faster recovery. – by Abigail Sutton

Disclosure: Becker is a paid consultant of Mentor Worldwide LLC, receives royalties from Mentor and is a consultant for Novus Scientific and Greer Medical. The remaining authors have no relevant financial disclosures.