Investigating the Effects of Different Incision Types on Aesthetic Outcomes and Incision-related Complications After Breast Reconstruction Surgery

1. DATA COLLECTION: About 300 cases of female patients who underwent breast reconstruction at Hubei Cancer Hospital(HBCH) between February 2013 and June 2023 were retrospectively collected. The incision was defined as the mastectomy incision and was grouped by the commonly used inframammary fold incision, lateral chest wall incision, circumareolar incision, and radial incision. The incidence of postoperative incision-related complications was recorded for different incision types; 2. DATA ORGANIZATION: Patients were divided into subgroups based on history of previous breast surgery, location and size of the lump, retention of the nipple-areola complex, timing of reconstruction, and type of the implant. The correlation of each subgroup with incision design is discussed; 3. FOLLOW-UP: Collected cases were followed up by telephone to complete the Breast-Q questionnaire (aesthetic score); 4. DATA ANALYSIS: The incidence of postoperative incision-related complications and aesthetic scores for different incision types were statistically analyzed.