Implications of testosterone therapy on wound healing and operative outcomes of gender-affirming chest masculinization surgery

Abstract

The increased awareness of the transgender population and their medical needs has given rise to a wide array of gender-affirming surgeries and hormonal therapies. To better understand the implication of testosterone therapy on female-to-male gender-affirming mastectomies, we conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the medical histories of 170 transgender males operated on by a single surgeon over 18 years. One hundred and one (59.4%) patients received hormonal therapy. The average age of patients in the testosterone treatment group was 20.6±5.3 (range 14-49) years. The median weight of resected breast tissue was 318g (IQR 221-515) and 311.5g (IQR 223-480) in patients treated with testosterone, compared to 380g (IQR 225-735) and 370g (IQR 240-700) in patients without testosterone treatment (for the right and left breast, respectively). Supplementary liposuction was performed in 35 patients, of whom 23 (64%) were treated with testosterone. Fifty-four patients (31.7%) experienced surgical complications, and 55.6% of complications were recorded in the group treated with testosterone. Forty-nine patients (28.8%) recorded their satisfaction using the Likert satisfaction scale; the average satisfaction was 4.86±0.35 in the non-testosterone group and 4.63±0.69 in the testosterone group. Opposing previous cohorts, we did not find a statistically significant association between testosterone and increased surgical complications in gender-affirming mastectomies. Possible explanations include our practice of avoiding testosterone therapy several weeks before the operation and vigorous hemostasis methods.