When to use drains in breast reduction surgery?

We aimed to identify risk factors that may influence surgeons' decision on the use of surgical drains in breast reduction surgery. Medical notes of 182 patients were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 38 years and the mean body mass index was 25.4 kg/m. Eighty-three percent of the patie...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnals of plastic surgery Vol. 63; no. 2; p. 135
Main Authors Ngan, Pui G, Iqbal, Hafiz J, Jayagopal, Sathish, Sillitoe, Anthony T, Dhital, Sanjiv K, Juma, Ali
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.08.2009
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Antibiotic Prophylaxis
Drainage - instrumentation
Female
Humans
Mammaplasty - instrumentation
Middle Aged
Postoperative Complications
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:We aimed to identify risk factors that may influence surgeons' decision on the use of surgical drains in breast reduction surgery. Medical notes of 182 patients were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 38 years and the mean body mass index was 25.4 kg/m. Eighty-three percent of the patients had bilateral breast reduction. The mean weight of the breast tissue excised was 581 g, with the inferior pedicle technique being the most commonly used (52.6%). Factors significantly associated with an increased total drain output were older age (> 50 years, P = 0.001), and larger amount of breast tissue excised (> 500 g, P = 0.004). Neither operative technique nor body mass index influenced the total drain output. We conclude that for patients of over 50 years old and breast reductions of more than 500 g, use of a drain should be considered. Younger patients and breast reductions of < or = 500 g may not benefit from the use of drains.
ISSN:1536-3708
DOI:10.1097/SAP.0b013e3181893809