Arthroscopic debridement and drainage effective for lactational breast abscesses

The optimal treatment of breast abscesses has been controversial. Herein, we report an innovative method for the operative treatment of lactational mammary abscesses.

Most cases of acute mastitis occur in lactating women, and approximately 0.4–11% of patients eventually develop breast abscesses. Surgical incision and drainage (I&D) was once the recommended management for mammary abscesses. However, it has been found to be associated with interruption of breastfeeding, formation of breast fistula, prolonged healing time, and obvious scarring. Recently, clinicians have reported many minimally invasive treatment methods, such as fine-needle aspiration, percutaneous catheter placement and vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB), for breast abscesses. However, these minimally invasive treatments often fail, especially in cases of large (> 3 cm in diameter) or multilocular mammary abscesses. Therefore, a treatment method that can ensure adequate drainage and result in satisfactory cosmetic outcomes needs to be developed.

Nineteen lactating patients diagnosed with breast abscesses were enrolled in the study, and abscess debridement and drainage were performed using an arthroscopic system. The clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and cosmetic results of arthroscopic surgery for breast abscesses.

Results:

All 19 patients were cured and did not relapse within the 6-month-follow-up period. One patient stopped breastfeeding due to breast leakage. All patients were satisfied with the postoperative appearance of the breast.

Arthroscopic debridement and drainage are effective treatment methods for lactational breast abscesses, with a high cure rate, few complications, and satisfactory cosmetic outcomes.

Reference:

Lou, L., Ma, W., Liu, X. et al. Application of arthroscopic system in the treatment of lactational breast abscess. BMC Surg 22, 397 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12893-022-01845-z

Keywords:

Lou, L., Ma, W., Liu, X, Application, arthroscopic, system, treatment, lactational breast, abscess, BMC Surgery.