title: A population-level analysis of bilateral breast reduction: does age affect early complications?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As the American population ages, a growing number of women may suffer from symptomatic macromastia in their later years.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors analyzed population data from the 2005-2010 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to investigate effects of age on 30-day surgical outcomes for reduction mammaplasty with the hope of improving patient care, counseling, and risk stratification.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall, 3537 patients were included in the analysis. Outcome variables included 30-day postoperative major surgical, medical, and wound complications. Patients were initially stratified into 2 groups: <60 years and ≥60 years. The World Health Organization defines age >60 years as elderly. The authors then performed a subgroup analysis, further stratifying the younger cohort into <50 years and 50-60 years of age. Univariate analysis was performed to assess the dependency of preoperative factors on surgical outcomes (P < .05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 3547 patients, 3050 were <60 years of age (39.7 ± 11.8 years) and 487 were ≥60 years of age (65.1 ± 4.7 years). A total of 182 thirty-day postoperative surgical complications were documented. Stratifying patients into 2 age groups did not reveal an association between age and any surgical complication (P = .26).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This population-level analysis of reduction mammaplasty indicated that, with proper patient selection, the procedure can be performed safely on older patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Jonas A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wink
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kovach
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D018579:Patient Selection; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: American College of Surgeons; National Surgical Quality Improvement Program; age; breast reduction; breast surgery; reduction mammaplasty