Umbilical Inset Incision Type Influences Abdominal Donor Site Healing in Autologous Breast Reconstruction.
Inverted-U and vertical umbilical incisions raise odds of abdominal wound healing complications versus elliptical.
Umbilical Inset Incision Type Influences Abdominal Donor Site Healing in Autologous Breast Reconstruction.
Delayed abdominal wound healing remains a common complication following abdominally based autologous breast reconstruction.
We hypothesized that the type of umbilical inset incision impacts the incidence of delayed wound healing due to differential disruption of abdominal wall vascularity, particularly in the infraumbilical region.
A retrospective review was conducted of all patients undergoing abdominally based autologous breast reconstruction at a single center between 2014 and 2021.
inverted-U or vertical umbilical incisions raise wound healing complication risk versus elliptical
Patients were on average 51 ± 9 years old and had a median body mass index of 28 (IQR 7) kg/m 2 .
The most used umbilical incision was an elliptical incision (193, 40%) followed by vertical (141, 29%), inverted-U (30, 6%), other (39, 8%), and unknown (81, 17%).
Abdominal wound healing complications occurred in 63 (13%) patients.
The incidence of abdominal wound healing complications was lowest with elliptical incisions (p < 0.001).
Abdominal wall vascularity likely plays a critical role in donor site healing following autologous reconstruction.
In this large cohort, inverted-U and vertical umbilical inset incisions were associated with the highest rates of wound healing complications.