The following is a summary of “Impact of mastectomy and reconstruction technique on patient perceived quality of Life,” published in the December 2022 issue of Surgery by Zhang, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to determine how the kind of mastectomy, the post-mastectomy reconstruction option, and the bilaterality of the treatment affected the postoperative quality of life (QoL) as perceived by the patient.

A prospective database was used to find patients who underwent post-mastectomy reconstruction between 2008 and 2020. The BREAST-Q and Was It Worth It (WIWI) questionnaires were used to measure QoL. The outcomes were contrasted based on the kind of reconstruction, the laterality of the reconstruction, and the type of mastectomy. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests was used to compare responses.

244 patients (43%), out of the 568 patients who satisfied the inclusion criteria, replied. The kind of mastectomy, surgery laterality, or chosen reconstruction did not substantially affect QoL. Patients who had DIEP flap repair were noticeably happier with the results of their surgery than those who received implant-based reconstruction. No matter the reconstructive options used, over 85% of patients reported an improvement in or no change in QoL overall.

The kind of mastectomy, the type of post-mastectomy reconstruction, or the laterality had no effect on the majority of QOL domains.

Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00559-1/fulltext