Objectives: The clinical objective of this study was to compare surgical outcomes and postoperative skin complica tions in patients with breasts without cooling and breasts with intraoperative cooling. Methods: A retrospective study was conducetd for the patients who received RNSMIBR between September 2022 and August 2023 were examined. Surgical outcomes and postoperative skin complications were analyzed. Results: A total of 57 R-NSMIBR procedures were analyzed by segregating the patient population into two groups, (group 1) 29 patients without cooling and (group 2) 28 patients with intraoperative cooling respectively. The propor tion of postoperative skin complications was higher in the no-cooling group when compared to the intraoperative cooling group. Other clinical factors were not differed significantly between the two groups. Regarding surgical out comes, skin complications in the no-cooling group resulted in implant loss. There was no significant difference in the rate of complications but statistically significant differences were observed in skin complications (erythematous flaps and vesication), infections, and loss of implant (P<0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion: Significant difference was observed in surgical outcomes or postoperative complications between the pa tient groups such as breast without cooling and breast with intraoperative cooling. Intraoperative cooling of the breast is necessary due to the limited space in which the breast is operated and the heat steam generated by the robotic instruments can cause skin damage. Keywords: Breast reconstruction, heat steam, implant, robotic surgery, skin damage
Corresponding Author: Pengwei Lu