Impact of Breast Reconstruction Patients on Cosmetic Practice

Introduction:

Many patients seek breast reconstruction as part of their treatment after mastectomy for breast cancer. While reconstructive surgery helps to improve a patient’s self-image, some patients seek cosmetic procedures in addition to further improve their perceived body image.¹ The purpose of this study is to look at the rate of conversion of primary breast reconstruction patients to receiving either non-invasive or surgical cosmetic procedures after reconstruction.

Methods:

A retrospective review of primary breast reconstruction patients of the two senior authors was conducted from January 2014- December 2015. Information including types of cosmetic procedures received and time to first cosmetic procedure were obtained. Time to first cosmetic procedure was assessed from date of initial reconstructive surgery through December 2017.

Results:

There were 289 primary breast reconstruction patients seen from January 2014- December 2015. A total of 30 (10.4%) patients underwent at least 1 cosmetic procedure after reconstructive surgery through December 2017. The average time to first cosmetic procedure was 8.61 months +/- 6.47 after their initial reconstructive surgery. Majority of patients (20, 66.7%) underwent non-invasive cosmetic procedures only. Six (20%) patients underwent a surgical cosmetic procedure only and 4 (13.3%) patients underwent both non-invasive and surgical cosmetic procedures. For patients that underwent a surgical procedure they have thus far only undergone 1 surgery. For patients that had non-invasive cosmetic procedures, they averaged 4.96 procedures (range 1 to 22).

Conclusion:

While breast reconstruction after breast cancer is a common path that women take, some may seek cosmetic procedures to further improve their self-image. For our senior authors this resulted in an ~10% conversion rate over 4 years of primary breast reconstructive patients. On average patients underwent a procedure about 9 months after the initial reconstructive surgery. Majority of patients underwent non-invasive cosmetic procedures averaging about 5 treatments per patient. Surgical patients underwent 1 surgery each over the timeframe.

1. Hsu, Vivian M., et al. “Does Breast Reconstruction Impact the Decision of Patients to Pursue Cosmetic Surgery?” Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, vol. 132, 2013, p. 66., doi:10.1097/01.prs.0000435934.42201.61.