Introduction:

Breast reconstruction has gained importance, with the combination of an oncological and aesthetic procedure in a single surgery offering excellent results. There are different techniques that can be used, such as the insertion of an autologous graft.

Material and methods:

A cases-control study was conducted, which included women > 18 years, with unilateral or bilateral breast tumors < 5 cm, BIRADS IV and V, that required surgical treatment. The cases group were patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with autologous fat grafts, and the control group were those only undergoing conservative breast surgery (CBS). The incidence of complications was recorded, and the pain intensity was evaluated with the visual analogue scale (EVA).

Results:

The overall incidence of complications (not considering pain) was 29.2%: 12.5% in the BCS group, and 37.5% in the CBS group. The presence of pain 24 hours after surgery was more frequent in the CBS group than in the BCS one (81.2% [n = 13] versus 62.5% [n = 5]), with no statistical difference (p = .36). On the seventh day, 25% (n = 4) of the patients in CBS presented pain, and only one in the BCS group did (12.5%) (p = .63). At the end of the study, only one patient in the CBS group persisted with pain (6.2%), 19% of patients with CBS developed wound retraction, one hematoma, and another one a seroma.

Conclusions:

Autologous graft surgery is a safe procedure that guarantees the same surgical outcome as CBS, but with a better aesthetic result.