Evaluation of therapeutic reduction mammoplasty for management of intractable mastalgia in female patients with large breasts

Aim
This study aimed to evaluate therapeutic reduction mammoplasty for the management of intractable mastalgia in female patients with large breasts in terms of improvement of the symptoms and patient satisfaction.
Patients and methods
This retrospective study included all female patients who had large breasts with intractable mastalgia and underwent reduction mammoplasty as the surgical management of their condition. Preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) was recorded for the mastalgia, back, and shoulder and was compared with VAS at 6 months postoperatively. Kyungpook National University Hospital Breast Reconstruction Satisfaction Questionnaire at 6 months was recorded to determine the postoperative patient satisfaction.
Results
The study included 50 female patients, with a mean age of 41.1±8.1 years. There was a significant improvement of mastalgia from the preoperative condition (mean of 6.0±1.1) compared with the condition at 6 months postoperatively (mean of 2.1±1.2). Furthermore, there was a significant improvement in the VAS score of both shoulder pain and back pain at 6 months postoperatively. A total of 44 (88%) patients showed satisfaction at 6 months postoperatively.
Conclusions
Reduction mammoplasty seems to be an effective procedure for the management of intractable mastalgia in patients with huge breasts. It had a significant relief of the mastalgia in addition to a significant improvement of both neck and back pain with good postoperative patient satisfaction. Smoking, use of oral contraceptive pill, high caffeine consumption, and high breast density had negative effects on postoperative patient satisfaction. Patients with these risk factors may need special preoperative counseling and abstention before surgery.