Subcutaneous mastectomy: acute complications and long-term follow-up.

Subcutaneous mastectomy as performed at our institution from 1965 to 1979 was an operation with high morbidity. The risk of complication appears to have been decreased with a two-stage approach. Long-term results were disappointing, with a high incidence of capsular contracture. The incidence of capsular contracture appears to have been reduced by subpectoral placement of the implants. One breast carcinoma occurred 10 years after subcutaneous mastectomy.