Endoscopic-Assisted Trans-lateral Thoracic Single-Port Nonliposuction Immediate Prosthesis Combined with Titanium Mesh Breast Reconstruction for Early Breast Cancer: a Single-Centre, Small-Sample, Summary Report of a New Surgery

The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of endoscopic-assisted trans-lateral thoracic single-port nonliposuction immediate prosthesis combined with titanium mesh breast reconstruction (IPMBR) after nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) for early breast cancer (EBC). The clinicopathological data of 51 patients with EBC who underwent NSM and IPMBR via lateral thoracotomy using a single-port nonliposuction endoscopic technique between February 2020 and February 2023 were collected and analysed to determine the success rate, operative time, intraoperative conditions, postoperative complications, and oncological safety of the procedure and the cosmetic outcome of reconstructed breast. The surgery was successful in all the patients, with a 100% success rate (51/51). There were differences in the operative time (minutes), intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative drainage volume, and length of hospital stay between the first-year group and the one-year later group (P<0.05), but there was no difference in the extubation time, hospital costs, or incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). At 6 months after surgery, there was a difference in the excellent rate between the breast reconstruction patients who underwent radiotherapy and those who did not (86.67% vs. 13.33%, ?(2)=7.291, P=0.007). However, there was no difference in the excellent rate between the first-year group and the one-year later group (?(2)=1.093, P=0.296). Fifty-one patients were followed up for a mean of 14.8 months, and there was no recurrence or distant metastasis. Endoscopic-assisted translateral thoracic uniportal nonliposuction IPMBR is a new clinically feasible technique that has a high success rate, few postoperative complications, good aesthetic outcomes of the reconstructed breast (but compromised by postoperative radiotherapy), and high oncological safety. For people with EBC, this new technology is a new option.