Abstract
BACKGROUND: Over half of immediate implant-based breast reconstructions (IBBR) are performed with an acellular dermal matrix, despite limited long-term outcome data. METHODS: The Breast Reconstruction Outcomes with and without Strattice, or BROWSE, study was a retrospective multicenter cohort study comparing consecutive patients who had undergone immediate Strattice IBBR with those who had undergone immediate IBBR with a submuscular technique between January of 2009 and December of 2015. RESULTS: This study compared 553 Strattice reconstructions with 242 submuscular reconstructions, with a median follow-up of 4.3 years (range, 2 to 9.3 years) and 5.7 years (range, 2 to 8.1 years), respectively, demonstrating an equivalent total complication rate [Strattice, n = 204 (36.9%); submuscular, n = 77 (31.8%); P = 0.17] and implant loss rate (8.5% versus 5.4%, respectively; P = 0.12). Infection rates and wound dehiscence rates were higher in the Strattice cohort [ n = 114 (20.6%) versus n = 31 (12.8%), P = 0.009; and n = 90 (16.3%) versus n = 25 (10.4%), P = 0.03, respectively]. Overall revision rates were comparable [ n = 226 (46.7%) versus n = 79 (41.1%); P = 0.2], but significantly fewer Strattice reconstructions required revision surgery for capsular contracture (5.3% versus 15.6%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although the risk of complications associated with Strattice reconstruction is numerically higher than that for submuscular coverage, the difference is small and not statistically significant, and likely outweighed by the clear reduced rate of revision surgery because of capsular contracture when Strattice is used. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.