What Researchers Did
Researchers looked back at records of patients who had immediate breast reconstruction with tissue expanders to see how often hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was used and what happened to patients who received it.
What They Found
This retrospective review covered 348 patients (552 breasts) who had tissue expander breast reconstruction, comparing prepectoral and subpectoral placement techniques. Only prepectoral patients received HBOT (19 patients, 33 breasts), and breasts treated with HBOT had higher rates of mastectomy skin necrosis than untreated breasts (73% vs 5.6% at 30 days, 76% vs 6.5% at 90 days), as well as higher rates of return to the operating room for necrosis removal and tissue expander removal. Among breasts that developed skin necrosis, those treated with HBOT had their mastectomy pocket salvaged more often than those without treatment (76% vs 41%, p less than 0.0001).
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a retrospective, non-randomized study in which HBOT was given selectively to higher-risk prepectoral patients, making it impossible to separate the effect of HBOT itself from the underlying differences between patients who did and did not receive it.