Evaluation of Breast Reduction Surgery Effect on Body Posture and Gait Pattern Using Three-Dimensional Gait Analysis

Abstract

Breast hypertrophy is a significant health burden with symptoms of back and shoulder pain, intertrigo, and shoulder grooving from the bra straps. Women often rely on surgery to relieve these symptoms, and they are mostly satisfied with the results. The satisfaction from surgery usually is evaluated by subjective measures. Objective evidence testing of the surgical outcomes is lacking. In this study, 10 women with breast hypertrophy underwent reduction mammaplasty. Their surgical outcomes were evaluated using three-dimensional gait analysis before surgery and 2 months afterward. A statistical difference was sought between the kinematic data of the spine, hip, knee, and ankle joints. The average maximum anterior pelvic tilt angles decreased 41 %, and the average maximum spine anterior flexion angles decreased 30 %. The difference between the pre- and postoperative values was statistically significant. The analysis of the kinematic data showed no significant difference in the hip, knee, or ankle joint angles postoperatively. The outcomes of breast reduction surgery have been evaluated mostly by subjective means until recently. As an objective evidence for surgical gain in the current study, reduction mammaplasty resulted in the patients’ improved body posture when walking.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.