Investigating the Effects of Skin Flaps in Breast Surgery on the Incidence of Infection after Mastectomy

Since the use of skin flap method is a common method in breast surgery and it may affect the rate of infection after surgery, and since there is no collected information in this field, the present study is a review. A systematic and meta-analysis has been conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of the skin flap method of breast surgery on the incidence of infection after mastectomy.

This study was conducted as a systematic review and meta-analysis. Keywords skin flap, skin flapping, mastectomy and breast were performed by systematic search based on PRISMA flowchart in all electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and EMBASE, Mag Iran and SID).

The results of the meta-analysis of these 5 studies indicated that the incidence of infection following the skin flap was non-significantly (0.344-1.013) CI95%, OR=0.59 and P = 0.056) less than not. It was a skin flap. Also, the heterogeneity of the studies indicated the average heterogeneity of the studies (I2 = 41.99% and P = 0.141).

Several factors affect the incidence of infection after mastectomy, one of which is the use of a skin flap during mastectomy; Based on the results obtained from the present study, the use of skin flap method in women candidates for mastectomy, partially reduces the risk of infection in the surgical area; Due to the heterogeneity of the studies, the results of our study should be used with caution..