Diagnostic, IV.

According to our study, sterile AlloDerm has a clinically decreased incidence of complications compared to aseptic AlloDerm. Whereas RBS decreased, it was interesting to see that it was not eliminated altogether. This suggests that the etiology may be unrelated to ADM processing and warrants further investigation. Overall, the most notable difference was the statistically significant decrease in the total complication rate. Therefore, the change to sterile AlloDerm seems to be beneficial. Further benefit arises from ease of preparation in the operating room.

Improved economic and clinical outcomes-as indicated by the reduced lengths of overall and ICU stay, the reduced number of procedures, none of the cases requiring amputation, and the reduced need for skin grafting-may be attainable when the surgeon eventually performing the reconstruction is involved early in management. We propose that, in the interest of improving patient care, a closer collaboration should be established between the reconstructive and primary managing teams.

Results of this study demonstrate a correlation between costs of cosmetic surgery procedures and local economic factors. Cosmetic surgery pricing cannot be completely explained by the supply-and-demand model because no association was found between procedure cost and the density of plastic surgeons.