PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF WOUND COMPLICATIONS AFTER BREAST SURGERY FOLLOWING NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER FROM SOUTHERN INDIA.

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer. One in 29 women in India develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Even though surgery is denitive treatment, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival and facilitates local therapy. Given the immunosuppressive nature of the drug, concern about increased risk of wound complications are always present. With this background we conducted a prospective observational study of the incidence of wound complications in patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent surgery. Method: Prospective observational study was done on the patients attending our Institute with history of breast lump and histologically proven malignancy. Data was collected from patients after obtaining their consent. All wound complications were recorded and following results were formulated. Results: The study involved 52 patients.At the time of presentation, the average age was 48.17 +/- 10.25 years. Overall, 25% of patients had wound complications, with wound infection accounting for 11.53 percent, seroma for 5.76 percent, and ap necrosis accounting for 13.46 percent. On days 1, 5, and 8, the average drain output was 190.3mL, 57.8mL, and 9.7mL respectively. The total number of days spent in the hospital was 7.92 +/- 2.57 days. The incidence of complications were 50% when associated with comorbidities which was signicantly higher at p=0.04 when compared to patients who had no comorbidities. When compared to other research, the rates of complications were similar. Conclusion: We believe that adding Neoadjuvant chemotherapy to a patient's treatment plan does not enhance the likelihood of wound complications.