Post-mastectomy reconstruction: a comparative analysis on psychosocial and psychopathological outcomes☆
Section snippets
Patients and methods
This study was performed by the Plastic Surgery Department and the Psychiatry Department of the University of Sassari in Sardinia, Italy. Three groups of women were identified. Group I included all consecutive patients who, between April 2001 and April 2002, underwent breast reconstruction with Becker's permanent expander/implants or TRAM flaps (pedicled and free). Group II collected the same number of patients who had undergone mastectomy for breast cancer and who were waiting for
Results
Only one patient (immediate implant) received adjuvant radiotherapy followed by a poor outcome and dissatisfaction. The same patient was identified as the only one who did not conclude the reconstructive programme with the nipple–areola complex reconstruction.
There was no significant difference between immediate and delayed reconstructed patients and between implants and TRAM flaps treated patients in respect of post-operative complications (Table 2).
Discussion
The psychological sequelae following breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent mastectomy are well recognized and represent the most important reason which prompt the patients to a breast reconstructive consultation.1, 2, 3, 4 Nowadays, the evolution of breast reconstruction can offer valid options to help these women to re-establish their ‘normal’ life. In the modern health care system, satisfaction and quality of life measurements become the main instruments and goals to evaluate treatments and
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Presented in part at the VIIIth Congress of Italian and American Plastic Surgeons, Ischia, Italy, 6–8 June 2002 and at the British Association of Plastic Surgeons Summer Meeting, Newport, South Wales, UK, 2–4 July 2003.