INTRODUCTION

Sensory reinnervation of autologous breast tissue after free flap reconstruction is highly variable. There is no long-term follow-up data exploring spontaneous reinnervation and how this affects patients' quality of life nor the nerve-related symptoms they experience. To address this issue, we invited patients with a minimum of 3 years after non-neurotized, free flap breast reconstruction to complete patient-reported outcome measures exploring sensation, quality of life and breast-related symptoms.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing unilateral Muscle-Sparing Transverse Rectus Abdominus Muscle (MS-TRAM) or deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction between 01-01-2015 and 31-12-2019 in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. We invited participants to complete the recently developed Breast-Q© Breast Sensation Module.

RESULTS

All patients had undergone unilateral immediate (n = 85) or delayed (n = 82) breast reconstruction after mastectomy using either a free DIEP (n = 150) or TRAM (n = 17) flap reconstruction a minimum of 3 years prior. The median age at operation was 48. Sensation after reconstruction was significantly reduced in the reconstructed breast compared with the contralateral breast (P < 0.0001) with a reduction in reported quality of life (immediate (68.0 [54.0, 89.0]) and delayed (68.0 [62.0, 83.8])). The sensation was significantly better in immediate vs delayed procedures (P = 0.024). Sensory scores after reconstruction increased with age (P = 0.036).

DISCUSSION

Breast sensation after non-neurotized reconstruction with autologous tissue is significantly reduced at long-term follow-up with a reduction in quality of life. A minimum outcome set for quantification of breast sensation is required and future research into the cost-benefit of neurotized, autologous breast reconstruction is needed.