Most women recover from psychological distress after postoperative complications following implant or DIEP flap breast reconstruction: A prospective long-term follow-up study

Substantial complication rates after postmastectomy breast reconstruction (BR) in breast cancer patients have been reported. Few studies have reported on the resulting psychological distress (PD) and satisfaction with the aesthetic result in relation to postoperative complications after completion of implant or DIEP flap BR. The present study investigated whether women were able to recover from complication related distress in the long term. = 119). Satisfaction with the aesthetic result was assessed 21 months after BR. Data concerning complications, subsequent additional surgery and total reconstruction failure up to T2 were collected from the medical records. Analyses were performed using multi-level regression analyses correcting for age. = 10) was significantly associated with a large temporary increase in depression scores. After additional surgery due to complications patients were less satisfied with aesthetic outcome, although patient satisfaction was independent of PD.PD outcomes generally declined to normal levels after completion of the entire BR course. Patients experiencing a total reconstruction failure reported more depression after this loss, but in the long term recovered to the same level as women without complications. These findings indicate that women generally can cope efficiently with these serious adverse events, even if they were less satisfied with the aesthetic result