Single-incision approach to aesthetic flat closure after bilateral mastectomy in morbidly obese patients

Abstract

There has been a recent emphasis to offer women who forego reconstruction after mastectomy a surgically optimized flat closure (aesthetic flat closure (AFC)). While this certainly requires attention to details not previously considered by many surgeons, additional complexity is encountered in performing this procedure in the morbidly obese patient. Most of this additional complexity revolves around resecting additional subcutaneous tissue adjacent to the breast footprint. Here, we combine two previously described techniques, one to facilitate AFC in patients with normal body mass indices (BMIs) and another approach used to facilitate removal of excess lateral subcutaneous tissue after mastectomy in patients with elevated BMIs with our single-incision approach. The single-incision approach facilitates an expedited surgical procedure and resection of excess midline tissue with more reliably symmetrical incisions bilaterally . This report describes 10 consecutive morbidly obese patients who underwent mastectomy and AFC.