Does Concurrent Gynaecological Surgery Affect Infectious Complications Rate after Mastectomy with Implant-based Reconstruction?

BACKGROUND: Women who undergo breast cancer surgery often have an indication for gynaecological procedure. The aim of our study was to compare infectious complications rate after mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction in patients with and without concurrent gynaecological procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed clinical records of 159 consecutively operated patients after mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction. The patients were divided in 2 groups: 102 patients without (Group1) and 57 with (Group 2) concurrent gynaecological procedure. Infectious complications rates between the groups were compared using χ(2)-test. Logistic regression was performed to test for association of different variables with infectious complications. RESULTS: There were 240 breast reconstructions performed. Median follow-up time was 297 days (10–1061 days). Mean patient age was 47.2 years (95% CI 32.8–65.9); 48.2 years (95% CI 46.1–50.3) in Group 1 and 45.8 years (95% CI 43.2–48.3) in Group 2; p = 0.002). Infectious complications rate was 17.6% (17.6% vs. 17.5%, p = 0.987), implant loss occurred in 5.7% (4.9% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.58). Obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 30 kg/m(2)), age, previous breast conserving treatment (BCT) with radiotherapy (RT) were identified as risk factors for infectious complications in univariate analysis. Obesity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.319, 95% CI 1.085–10.157, p = 0.036) and BCT with RT (aOR 7.481, 95% CI 2.230–25.101, p = 0.001) were independently associated with infectious complications in multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent gynaecological procedure for patients undergoing mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction did not carry an increased risk for infectious complications.