OUTPATIENT REDUCTION MAMMAPLASTY - A REVIEW OF 338 CONSECUTIVE CASES

Reduction mammaplasty is usually accomplished under general anesthesia , often with an overnight stay. With cost-containment pressures, the a bility to perform this surgery in an outpatient setting would have obv ious benefits, We present a series of 338 patients who have undergone bilateral reduction mammaplasty over a 3-year period. Two hundred eigh ty-six cases (84.6%) were performed on an outpatient basis and 52 (15. 4%) were inpatients. Patient age ranged from 13 to 82 years, Significa nt differences were found between the two groups regarding average age (34.3 and 42.4 years, respectively) and average total resection weigh ts (1,486.1 gm and 1,895.6 gm, respectively). The maximum total resect ion weight was 6,000 gm in the outpatient group and 7,140 gm in the in patient group, Surgical techniques included inferior pedicle (N = 273) , central mound (N = 54), and free nipple graft (N = 11), There were n o substantial differences in the incidence of minor complications, inc luding wound separation, seromas, hypertrophic scars, infection, and h ypopigmentation, Autologous transfusion was utilized in 18 patients ea rly in the series, Of the 175 patients (52%) who returned a follow-up questionnaire, all considered their outpatient experience a positive o ne. In addition, 33% of the inpatients who responded (N = 8/24) felt t heir hospital stay was unnecessary, Outpatient surgery resulted in a s avings of $1,500 to $2,500 when compared to an overnight stay. Reducti on mammaplasty can be performed safely in an outpatient setting and is not necessarily limited by age or extent of resection.