Improving surgical efficiency of immediate implant-based breast reconstruction following mastectomy

Purpose Traditionally, during a mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction, the surgical oncologist completes their operative procedure prior to the reconstructive surgeon entering the room. In this scenario, two separate instruments kits and tables are utilized. In our institution, we created a combined instrument kit for use by both surgical teams. We compared set-up and operative times for each process and the subsequent savings associated with this novel approach. Methods Sixty-eight patients undergoing mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction were divided into two groups—those who underwent the procedure with separate oncology and reconstructive kits and those who underwent the procedure with combined instrumentation. Set-up time, procedure time, and clinical outcome endpoints were compared. Costs associated with each process were estimated. Results Surgical set-up time was lower using the combined kit versus separate kits [mean for unilateral cases, 25.1 ± 9.6 min vs. 35.7 ± 10.4 min ( p