Local Flaps to Cover Skin Necrosis after Skin-sparing Mastectomy and Prepectoral Reconstruction from PreQ-20 Trial.

Background: In recent years, mastectomy has increasingly been indicated for women at high risk and those with breast cancer. Prepectoral reconstruction with polyurethane implant is an option for these patients. Nevertheless, this procedure can become complicated with exposure of the implant. The aim of this article is to describe the feasibility of local flaps to treat skin necrosis and dehiscence after prepectoral reconstruction and its impact on implant loss. Methods: This study includes the women who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the PreQ-20 protocol (12), which assessed patients with exposed implant who required a local flap for its coverage. Three types of flaps were used: thoracoepigastric, lateral thoracic, and batwing. Results: The study included 226 skin-sparing mastectomies and immediate reconstruction using prepectoral implants (52.7% bilateral mastectomies). Some 20.9% of the patients showed complications, with wound dehiscence the most frequent. Thirteen local flaps to cover the implant were performed. All flaps presented appropriate perfusion; however, the implant cover failed in six patients (46.2%). Conclusions: The use of local flaps can be a low-morbidity option for preventing implant loss when skin dehiscence or necrosis occurs and delays in oncology treatments.

Outcomes of initially nonoperative management of diverticulitis with abscess formation in immunosuppressed patients. DIPLICAB study COLLABORATIVE group.

AIM: Management of diverticulitis with abscess formation in immunosuppressed patients (IMS) remains unclear. The main objective of the study was to assess short- and long-term outcomes between IMS and immunocompetent patients (IC). The secondary aim was to identify risk factors for emergency surgery. METHODS: A nationwide retrospective cohort study was performed at 29 Spanish referral centres between 2015-2019 including consecutive patients with first episode of diverticulitis classified as modified Hinchey Ib or II. IMS included immunosuppressive therapy, biologic therapy, malignant neoplasm with active chemotherapy and chronic steroid therapy. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors to emergency surgery in IMS. RESULTS: A total of 1395 patients were included; 118 IMS and 1277 IC. There were no significant differences in emergency surgery between IMS and IC (19.5% and 13.5%, p = 0.075) but IMS was associated with higher mortality (15.1% vs. 0.6%, p < 0.001). Similar recurrent episodes were found between IMS and IC (28% vs. 28.2%, p = 0.963). Following multivariate analysis, immunosuppressive treatment, p = 0.002; OR: 3.35 (1.57-7.15), free gas bubbles, p < 0.001; OR: 2.91 (2.01-4.21), Hinchey II, p = 0.002; OR: 1.88 (1.26-2.83), use of morphine, p < 0.001; OR: 3.08 (1.98-4.80), abscess size ≥5 cm, p = 0.001; OR: 1.97 (1.33-2.93) and leucocytosis at third day, p < 0.001; OR: 1.001 (1.001-1.002) were independently associated with emergency surgery in IMS. CONCLUSION: Nonoperative management in IMS has been shown to be safe with similar treatment failure than IC. IMS presented higher mortality in emergency surgery and similar rate of recurrent diverticulitis than IC. Identifying risk factors to emergency surgery may anticipate emergency surgery.

Diverticulitis with abscess formation: Outcomes of non-operative management and nomogram for predicting emergency surgery: The Diplicab Study Collaborative Group.

BACKGROUND: To assess short- and long-term outcomes from non-surgical management of diverticulitis with abscess formation and to develop a nomogram to predict emergency surgery. METHODS: This nationwide retrospective cohort study was performed in 29 Spanish referral centers, including patients with a first episode of a diverticular abscess (modified Hinchey Ib-II) from 2015 to 2019. Emergency surgery, complications, and recurrent episodes were analyzed. Regression analysis was used to assess risk factors, and a nomogram for emergency surgery was designed. RESULTS: Overall, 1,395 patients were included (1,078 Hinchey Ib and 317 Hinchey II). Most (1,184, 84.9%) patients were treated with antibiotics without percutaneous drainage, and 194 (13.90%) patients required emergency surgery during admission. Percutaneous drainage (208 patients) was associated with a lower risk of emergency surgery in patients with abscesses of ≥5 cm (19.9% vs 29.3%, P = .035; odds ratio 0.59 [0.37-0.96]). The multivariate analysis showed that immunosuppression treatment, C-reactive protein (odds ratio: 1.003; 1.001-1.005), free pneumoperitoneum (odds ratio: 3.01; 2.04-4.44), Hinchey II (odds ratio: 2.15; 1.42-3.26), abscess size 3 to 4.9 cm (odds ratio: 1.87; 1.06-3.29), abscess size ≥5 cm (odds ratio: 3.62; 2.08-6.32), and use of morphine (odds ratio: 3.68; 2.29-5.92) were associated with emergency surgery. A nomogram was developed with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.81 (95% confidence interval: 0.77-0.85). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous drainage must be considered in abscesses ≥5 cm to reduce emergency surgery rates; however, there are insufficient data to recommend it in smaller abscesses. The use of the nomogram could help the surgeon develop a targeted approach.