by Le, Nicole K.; Persing, Sarah; Dinis, Jacob; Gabrick,
Kyle S.; Wu, Robin T.; Sinnott, Catherine J.; Avraham, Tomer; Young, Anke Ott;
Alperovich, Michael
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: November 2021
- Volume 148 - Issue 5 - p 708e-714e
Background:
Subpectoral breast implant placement has in recent history
predominated in breast reconstruction, but there has been more recent adoption
of prepectoral implant reconstruction. There has been limited study to date of
patient-reported outcomes comparing the two techniques.
Methods:
Patients who underwent direct-to-implant breast
reconstruction between 2013 and 2018 were included in this retrospective cohort
study. Eligible patients were asked to complete BREAST-Q domains comparing
quality of life and satisfaction. Descriptive, t test, chi-square test, and
multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to compare BREAST-Q
scores. Significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05.
Results:
There were 64 patients (114 breasts) who underwent
prepectoral reconstruction and 37 patients (68 breasts) who underwent
subpectoral reconstruction. Among the 101 women (182 breasts), there were no
significant differences between BREAST-Q scores and implant position for the
Satisfaction with Breasts domain (adjusted p = 0.819), Psychosocial Well-being
domain (adjusted p = 0.206), or Physical Well-being Chest domain (adjusted p =
0.110). The subpectoral implant cohort was associated with higher scores, 53
versus 47, for the Sexual Well-being module (adjusted p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
Patients undergoing direct-to-implant breast reconstruction
had comparable BREAST-Q satisfaction scores for most modules regardless of
implant plane. The subpectoral implant cohort scored higher for sexual
well-being.
