Introduction:

Immediate breast reconstruction reduces the psychological impact of breast cancer and improves the quality of life of patients.

Objective:

To assess symmetry in immediate breast reconstruction at the of Cuba.

Method:

An analytical and prospective study of incident cohort was carried out in the reconstructive surgery service at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR), from 2014 to 2017. Forty-one patients who consented to participate in the study were included. Demographic and oncoreconstructive variables were collected. A software created in the institution was used to assess breast symmetry. The data were collected from the medical histories. The corrected chi-square test and odds ratio were applied for statistical analysis.

Results:

30.2% of women who received reconstruction belonged to the age group 30-39 years; 46.3% were overweight. The best symmetry was found with oncoplastic techniques (31.7%), followed by skin-sparing mastectomy. The tissue expansion technique with mastectomy presented greater complications (63.6%) and less symmetry. Partial skin necrosis was the major complication, accounting for 7.3% of the cases, and was related to skin-sparing techniques.

Conclusions:

Objectively evaluating breast symmetry allowed us to know the effectiveness of reconstructive surgical techniques. With oncoplastic surgery and skin-sparing mastectomy techniques, the best aesthetic outcomes and few complications were obtained. Immediate breast expansion with a modified radical mastectomy offers no benefit.

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