Study reports improved satisfaction for women converting from prosthetic to autologous breast reconstruction

October 12, 2014
American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)

Women who choose to replace their existing breast implants with autologous tissue are reporting significant improvements in their overall satisfaction with the breast reconstruction process and results, according to a new study.

"Although many women are satisfied with their outcomes after implant-based breast reconstruction, our study demonstrates a significant improvement in satisfaction when the implant was removed and breast was reconstructed with the patient's own tissue," said Joseph Disa, M.D., FACS, the senior author of the study and a plastic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

The study's findings show that patients who had their existing prosthetic implants replaced with autologous tissue, i.e., tissue transplanted from another area of a patient's body, report increased satisfaction with their breasts, the outcome of the surgery, exual well-being, physical well-being, care received from the surgeon and participating medical staff, information providers, medical team and office staff.

The study, which evaluated and surveyed 242 patients from a single facility from 1991 through 2013, included patients between the ages of 34 and 64. The amount of time between patients' original reconstructive surgery and the autologous replacement surgery ranged from one month to nearly 10 years.

The study, entitled "Patient-Reported Satisfaction and Health Related-Quality of Life in Patients Converting from Prosthetic to Autologous Breast Reconstruction," is part of Plastic Surgery The Meeting, the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Oct. 10-14, 2014, in Chicago.