USF-LVHN SELECT

A Silver Lining for Massive Weight Loss Patients with Breast Cancer: A Propensity-Matched Analysis Comparing Abdominal Outcomes after DIEP and Abdominoplasty.

Publication/Presentation Date

10-1-2025

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Patients with a history of massive weight loss (MWL) frequently undergo body-contouring surgery such as abdominoplasty, and the safety profile of this procedure is well accepted. The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap is a procedure where excess abdominal tissue is used to reconstruct the breast. The abdominal muscles are preserved by isolating the flap on vascular perforators to the abdominal skin and adipose tissue, whereas in abdominoplasty, the same tissue is removed and discarded. In this study, the abdominal-contouring outcomes of patients who underwent DIEP breast reconstruction following MWL were compared with the abdominal contouring outcomes of those who received abdominoplasty following MWL.

METHODS: A propensity-matched retrospective cohort study was performed comparing MWL patients who underwent either DIEP flap breast reconstruction after breast cancer treatments with mastectomy or abdominoplasty. Patients were matched for multiple preoperative variables. Statistical analysis included an independent-samples

RESULTS: Eighteen patients with a history of MWL who underwent DIEP flaps were matched to 18 patients who underwent abdominoplasty. Patient data for the DIEP cohort were obtained from a database of 314 patients and a total of 484 flaps performed at our institution. Patient data for the abdominoplasty cohort were obtained from a database of 155 patients who underwent abdominoplasty at our institution. Groups differed on body mass index and total body weight loss (

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DIEP procedures were found to have abdominal complication rates similar to those who received standard abdominoplasty. This information can be used by plastic surgeons to counsel MWL patients considering DIEP that their chance of a postoperative abdominal complication is similar to abdominal body-contouring procedures.

Volume

118

Issue

10

First Page

657

Last Page

662

ISSN

1541-8243

Disciplines

Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

41072029

Department(s)

USF-LVHN SELECT Program, USF-LVHN SELECT Program Students

Document Type

Article

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