Incidence and factors associated with complications in surgical wounds of women after mastectomy

Abstract

Objective: to describe the incidence of complications in mastectomy surgical wounds and to identify associated factors. Method: this retrospective study was conducted in a hospital cohort of 545 women mastectomized for breast cancer in 2018 at a high-complexity cancer care center Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil, after approval by the research ethics committee. Data were collected from medical records, allowing incidence rate and incidence rate ratio to be calculated for each complication. Results: the complication with the highest incidence rate was bleeding (57.14/100 mastectomies-day), associated factors being non-white race/skin color (incidence rate ratio 3.11) and diabetes mellitus (incidence rate ratio 0.48). Conclusion: the factors associated with bleeding from the surgical wound point to the need for new practices in post-operative care for women with mastectomies.