Breast cancer is a serious health issue that affects 1 in 8 women. Although numerous treatments have arisen in recent years to aggressively combat this disease and increase survivorship, many survivors develop a crippling condition that can result in devastating physical and psychological impairments. Breast reconstruction by any method may help recovery psychologically. However, some individuals still report experiencing pain following their recovery from surgery. Additionally, secondary lymphedema is a common yet poorly understood complication of breast cancer patients. For those individuals who undergo axillary lymph node dissection the rates of incidence of lymphedema approach 47%. These rates tend to increase further for patients who receive irradiation treatment or mastectomies. Currently there is no known cure for lymphedema. Current treatments include non-invasive measures as well as surgical interventions. Vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNTx) is a fairly recent surgical procedure that has shown promising results.
The goal of this research study is to analyze the clinical outcome of subjects who undergo breast reconstruction with perforator flaps and/or VLNTx using information collected as part of standard care.
Clinical data will be collected prospectively. All subjects who undergo a surgical procedure will complete the online persistent postsurgical pain assessment questionnaire.
The BreastQ questionnaire will be completed by patients prior to and after undergoing breast reconstruction and/or lymphedema treatment.
