Mastectomy is a cornerstone operative procedure in breast cancer treatment leaving a raw area behind with possibility of failure of primary closure sometimes with unavailability of facilities of reconstruction. This opened the door for this research to find a formula to predict the need of reconstruction
Surgical intervention for breast cancer includes dealing with the primary tumour, added to it is the axillary dissection with variable options in both of them according to multiple factors. Mastectomy represents a part of several operations as radical and modified radical mastectomy, while in others it may be the whole operation as in palliative simple mastectomy. Moreover, re-excision of local recurrence is another form of surgical intervention. At the step of mastectomy or re-excision of locally recurrent disease, the challenge of closure may arise, as simple primary closure may not be possible because of wide wound gap. In this situation, reconstruction is unavoidably needed and this situation represents one of two situations in which reconstruction is indicated. As reconstruction sometimes needs certain expertise which may not be available momentarily and needs previous arrangement. Moreover sometimes mastectomy exceeds the previous expectation leaving a big gap beyond simple approximation, so the investigators developed a formula to assess the need of reconstructive coverage.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
74
mastectomy either simple or modified radical
Faculty of Medicine
Zagazig, Sharqia Province, Egypt
Clavicle-7th rib/sternal length ratio
the ratio of clavicle-7th rib in relation to the length of the sternum
Time frame: for each patient at time of operation
Upper flap length stretch ratio
the ratio of the perpendicular line from the highest point of the upper border of mastectomy ellipse to the clavicle originally in relation to the length after stretch
Time frame: for each patient at time of operation
Lower flap length stretch ratio
the ratio of the perpendicular line from the lowest point of the lower border of mastectomy ellipse to the 7th rib originally to the length after stretch
Time frame: for each patient at time of operation
flap index
entangling of the above measurement in an equation to yield a number so when the distance from the clavicle to the 7th rib (in the midclavicular plane) is subtracted from it, a number is yielded, predicting the feasibility of closure without need to reconstruction
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 3 years
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