Comparing medial pedicle mammoplasty with inferior pedicle mammoplasty

Breast reduction is one of the most commonly performed plastic surgery procedures. Many approaches to breast reduction have been described, including medial pedicle and inferior pedicle. The aim of this study was to compare the results of medial pedicle mammoplasty method with inferior pedicle mammoplasty.
Thirty-three consecutive patients who had undergone medial pedicle mammoplasty at 15 khordad hospital were compared with 33 inferior pedicle mammoplasty. Patients age, breast resection weight, surgery length, the average distance from the sternal notch to the breast nipples, complication rate including bottoming out, need for re-operation, request for surgical site scar removal, breast contour, breast symmetry, nipple and areolar sensation, the frequency of complications, nipple-areolar complex necrosis and patients’ satisfaction from scar length and overall patients’ satisfaction were assessed.
Mean age was comparable in both groups. In medial pedicle, the surgery length (177.73±20.16 min vs. 221.06±26.77, P=0.01) and resected breast weight (respectively, 454.24±91.57 vs. 900.91±401.28 gr in the right side and 446.67±82.87 vs. 904.24±407.88 gr in the left side) and the average distance from the sternal notch to the breast nipples (29.09±3.37 vs. 35.33±3.36 cm, P=0.01) were significantly lower compared to inferior pedicle group. Yet, the frequency of bottoming out was significantly higher (30.3% vs. 0%, p=0.01) and the patients satisfaction from scar length was lower (54.5% vs. 87.9%, p=0. 003) in the medial pedicle group. There were no significant difference between the need for re-operation, request for surgical site scar removal, breast contour, breast symmetry, nipple and areolar sensation, the frequency of complications, nipple-areolar complex necrosis and patients’ satisfaction.
The results of the present study showed that, although the resected breast weight was lower in medial pedicle mammoplasty, the length of surgery was shorter and better results regarding aesthetic point of view and higher patients’ satisfaction are achieved.