Preoperative and postoperative nipple-areola sensibility in patients undergoing reduction mammaplasty

Objective data on nipple and areola sensibility are scarce. For women with macromastia, there is little published information available indicating the incidence and intensity of postoperative nipple and areola sensibility. This prospective study was undertaken to evaluate nipple and areola sensibility in "small-breasted" control subjects as well as in patients with macromastia before and after reduction mammaplasty. Preoperative and postoperative Semmes-Weinstein pressure threshold testing was performed on 84 breasts in 43 patients and on 12 breasts of A or B cup size in the control group. The patients underwent reduction mammaplasty by the central parenchymal pedicle technique or the laterally based inferior pedicle technique. Nipple-areola sensibility was retained in 96 percent of breasts when the excision of breast tissue was less than 550 gm and 85 percent of breasts when the excision was greater than 550 gm. Overall, nipple-areola sensibility was retained in 90.5 percent of the 84 breasts tested. In those breasts in which nipple-areola sensibility was retained after surgery, there was no statistical difference in the preoperative and postoperative Semmes-Weinstein pressure threshold values. When pressure threshold values were compared in patients who had less than 550 gm of tissue resected, patients who had greater than 550 gm of tissue resected, and controls who had not undergone surgery, the trend of decreasing nipple-areola sensibility with increasing breast size was clearly seen.