A Comparative Analysis of Sensory Return in Delayed-Immediate Versus Immediate Neurotized Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap Breast Reconstruction.

[BACKGROUND] Breast reconstruction patients who anticipate adjuvant radiation are not suitable candidates for immediate deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction due to the risk of flap fibrosis, shrinkage, and fat necrosis. Rather, many of these patients undergo delayed-immediate, or "babysitter," reconstruction, where a tissue expander is placed first as a temporizing measure during adjuvant therapy before definitive flap reconstruction. In this study, we aim to compare sensory changes in delayed-immediate to immediate DIEP flap patients.

[METHODS] Ninety-one patients, including 26 patients (46 breasts) with "babysitter" procedures and 65 patients (120 breasts) with immediate DIEP flaps, were prospectively identified at their preoperative visit. For both cohorts, baseline level (t = 0) is defined as before mastectomy.

[RESULTS] "Babysitter" patients underwent final-stage neurotized flap reconstruction on average at 12 months after initial tissue expander placement (range, 3-18 months). At 18 month after mastectomy (6 months after DIEP), delayed-immediate patients had comparable sensitivity measurements as immediate DIEP flap patients in all regions of the breast (P > 0.05). For delayed immediate patients, at 18 months postoperatively, sensitivity measurements were comparable with baseline levels only in the outer superior, outer medial, and outer lateral regions of the breast (P > 0.05). At 24 months postoperatively, cutaneous thresholds were comparable with baseline in all regions of the breast except the inner inferior region (P > 0.05), following a similar sensory recovery trajectory as immediate DIEP flap patients.

[CONCLUSIONS] In patients who undergo "babysitter" procedures, the combination of sensory return from the native mastectomy skin flap along with the neurotized DIEP flap yields sensory recovery comparable with immediate DIEP flap patients after definitive flap reconstruction. When final-stage flap reconstruction occurs by 12 months after mastectomy, sensation can return beginning 24 months postoperatively, or even sooner in some regions of the breast.