Background: Since postoperative complications after reconstructive breast surgery are often related to drastic increases of patient suffering and treatment costs, several devices were developed in order to avoid them. In this respect, the intraoperative fluorescence angiography with indocyanine green (ICG) provides promising results by detecting ischemic skin intraoperatively.
Methods: Women who underwent reconstructive breast surgery at the breast center at Charité between April and December 2017 were included in the analysis. General patient characteristics, medical history, type of surgery, as well as postoperative parameters, complications and patient reported outcomes were compared between patients operated using ICG fluorescence angiography and conventionally operated patients.
Results: Among 68 patients with breast reconstruction 36 (52.9%) were operated with the ICG angiography device and 32 (47.1%) without. No significant differences regarding patient demographics, medical history, and surgical procedure were found. Wound healing disorders occurred in 11.1% of the ICG group and in 9.4% of the control group. About 11% of both groups developed major complications which required revision surgery. Complication rates and patient reported outcome did not differ significantly. Across both groups, only the risk factor resection weight (≥ 500 g) was significantly associated with wound healing disorders (RR = 6.80; 95%CI 1.93–23.81; p = 0.022).
