Dataset Information

Gender-Affirming Mastectomy in Transmasculine Patients: Does Obesity Increase Complications or Revisions?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Obesity can often be a barrier to gender-affirming top surgery in transmasculine patients because of concern for increased surgical site complications.

Study design

All adult patients (N = 948) within an integrated health care system who underwent gender-affirming mastectomy from 2013 to 2018 were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the relationship between obesity and surgical site complications or revisions.

Results

One third of patients (n = 295) had obese body mass index (BMI), and those patients were further stratified into obesity class I (BMI of 30-34.9 kg/m2, 9.4%), class II (BMI of 35-39.9 kg/m2, 8.9%), and class III (BMI of ≥40 kg/m2, 2.9%). A majority of patients across BMI categories underwent double incision surgery. There were no significant differences in complications or revisions between patients with obesity versus those with normal BMI, when BMI was treated as a categorical or continuous variable and when evaluating only patients who underwent double incision surgery.

Conclusions

Obesity alone should not be considered a contraindication for gender-affirming mastectomy. Attention should be given to several modifiable risk factors identified in this study, including lesser incision surgical techniques, tobacco use, and testosterone use. Further research is needed to understand risks associated with the highest BMI (≥40 kg/m2) patients and to assess patient satisfaction with surgical outcome.

SUBMITTER: Rothenberg KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8936918 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceThere has been increasing legislative interest in regulating gender-affirming surgery, in part due to the concern about decisional regret. The regret rate following gender-affirming surgery is thought to be approximately 1%; however, previous studies relied heavily on ad hoc instruments.ObjectiveTo evaluate long-term decisional regret and satisfaction with decision using validated instruments following gender-affirming mastectomy.Design, setting, and participantsFor this cross-sectional study, a survey of patient-reported outcomes was sent between February 1 and July 31, 2022, to patients who had undergone gender-affirming mastectomy at a US tertiary referral center between January 1, 1990, and February 29, 2020.ExposureDecisional regret and satisfaction with decision to undergo gender-affirming mastectomy.Main outcomes and measuresLong-term patient-reported outcomes, including the Holmes-Rovner Satisfaction With Decision scale, the Decision Regret Scale, and demographic characteristics, were collected. Additional information was collected via medical record review. Descriptive statistics and univariable analysis using Fisher exact and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were performed to compare responders and nonresponders.ResultsA total of 235 patients were deemed eligible for the study, and 139 responded (59.1% response rate). Median age at the time of surgery was 27.1 (IQR, 23.0-33.4) years for responders and 26.4 (IQR, 23.1-32.7) years for nonresponders. Nonresponders (n = 96) had a longer postoperative follow-up period than responders (median follow-up, 4.6 [IQR, 3.1-8.6] vs 3.6 [IQR, 2.7-5.3] years, respectively; P = .002). Nonresponders vs responders also had lower rates of depression (42 [44%] vs 94 [68%]; P < .001) and anxiety (42 [44%] vs 97 [70%]; P < .001). No responders or nonresponders requested or underwent a reversal procedure. The median Satisfaction With Decision Scale score was 5.0 (IQR, 5.0-5.0) on a 5-point scale, with higher scores noting higher satisfaction. The median Decision Regret Scale score was 0.0 (IQR, 0.0-0.0) on a 100-point scale, with lower scores noting lower levels of regret. A univariable regression analysis could not be performed to identify characteristics associated with low satisfaction with decision or high decisional regret due to the lack of variation in these responses.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional survey study, the results of validated survey instruments indicated low rates of decisional regret and high levels of satisfaction with decision following gender-affirming mastectomy. The lack of dissatisfaction and regret impeded the ability to perform a more complex statistical analysis, highlighting the need for condition-specific instruments to assess decisional regret and satisfaction with decision following gender-affirming surgery.

Project description:ImportanceMedical education, research, and clinical guidelines are available to support the initiation of gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary people. By contrast, little is known about the clinical experiences of those who discontinue or seek to reverse gender-affirming medical or surgical interventions due to a change in gender identity, often referred to as detransition.ObjectiveTo examine the physical and mental health experiences of people who initiated medical or surgical detransition to inform clinical practice.Design, setting, and participantsUsing constructivist grounded theory as a qualitative approach, data were collected in the form of in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using an inductive 2-stage coding process to categorize and interpret detransition-related health care experiences to inform clinical practice. Between October 2021 and January 2022, individuals living in Canada who were aged 18 years and older with experience of stopping, shifting, or reversing a gender transition were invited to partake in semistructured virtual interviews. Study advertisements were circulated over social media, to clinicians, and within participants' social networks. A purposive sample of 28 participants who discontinued, shifted, or reversed a gender transition were interviewed.Main outcomes and measuresIn-depth, narrative descriptions of the physical and mental health experiences of people who discontinued or sought to reverse prior gender-affirming medical and/or surgical interventions.ResultsAmong the 28 participants, 18 (64%) were assigned female at birth and 10 (36%) were assigned male at birth; 2 (7%) identified as Jewish and White, 5 (18%) identified as having mixed race and ethnicity (which included Arab, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and South Asian), and 21 (75%) identified as White. Participants initially sought gender-affirmation at a wide range of ages (15 [56%] were between ages 18 and 24 years). Detransition occurred for various reasons, such as an evolving understanding of gender identity or health concerns. Participants reported divergent perspectives about their past gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments. Some participants felt regrets, but a majority were pleased with the results of gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments. Medical detransition was often experienced as physically and psychologically challenging, yet health care avoidance was common. Participants described experiencing stigma and interacting with clinicians who were unprepared to meet their detransition-related medical needs.Conclusions and relevanceThis study's results suggest that further research and clinical guidance is required to address the unmet needs of this population who discontinue or seek to reverse prior gender-affirming interventions.