Patient outcomes and experiences of going flat

Questions To Ask Your Health Care Provider

• Is going flat an option for me?
• What are the risks and benefits of going flat?
• What are the risks and benefits of having breast reconstruction?
• What are the risks and benefits of having breast-conserving surgery?
• Am I a candidate for an aesthetic flat closure?
• Are there resources that you can recommend if I choose to go flat?
• If I go flat, are breast implants or other reconstructive procedures an option later in life?

Open Clinical Trials

• NCT04491591: Implementing BREASTChoice into Practice. Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is a highly personal decision. A clinical decision support tool, BREASTChoice, with personalized risk information and patient preferences, was created to be used to address these issues. This study is looking at whether the use of BREASTChoice for routine care is more effective than a control website, at improving the quality of reconstruction decisions.

The following studies are related to mastectomy and breast reconstruction.

• NCT05720039: Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy With Immediate Implant-Based Reconstruction for Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer. This study will compare robotic-assisted nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) to standard surgery NSM for women with early-stage breast cancer. 
• NCT02918474: Decision-Making Tool in Supporting Decision-Making in Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer. This trial studies the acceptability and usefulness of a tool that supports decision-making for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
• NCT04533373: Sensory Restoration After DIEP Flap Neurotization. The goal of this study is to look at whether nerve graft works to improve sensation in the breast after mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction. 

• NCT05020574: Microbiome and Association With Implant Infections. This study is looking at whether people with high amounts of certain types of bacteria are more likely to develop tissue expander-related infections than those with lower amounts of bacteria.