From the Breast Cancer Reconstruction Blog:
A study published in September's edition of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery examined the abdominal recovery rates and patient satisfaction after breast reconstruction with different abdominal flaps: the DIEP, SIEA and muscle-sparing free TRAM.
The authors of the study used a 12-question patient survey and retrospective chart review to compare donor-site (abdominal) function, pain, and aesthetics in 179 patients who had unilateral or bilateral breast reconstruction with 47 SIEA flaps, 49 DIEP flaps, and 136 muscle-sparing free TRAM flaps during a 5-year period.
The authors' conclusions were that breast reconstruction using SIEA flaps results in significantly less abdominal donor-site issues than DIEP flaps in bilateral cases and free muscle-sparing TRAM flaps in both unilateral and bilateral cases. The authors felt that these differences were "clinically relevant" and recommended that SIEA flaps be used whenever possible in preference to DIEP or muscle-sparing free TRAM flaps for breast reconstruction.
Read it all here.