Quilting Sutures After Mastectomy (BE-Quilt)

Comparison of 'Quilting Sutures' With 'Conventional Sutures and Drain Placement' After Mastectomy: a Multicentre, Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial

The use of wound drains after mastectomy is common practice in Belgium. However, placement of suction drainage has several disadvantages. Skin bacteria can enter via the drain and cause infection, or the drain itself can cause discomfort and a need for daily nursing. After drain removal, seroma is the most common complication following breast cancer surgery. Seromas are collections of serous fluid that frequently develop under the skin or in the axillary space formed after mastectomy and/or axillary lymph node dissection, resulting from surgical trauma to blood/lymphatic vessels and post-traumatic inflammation. Seroma formation can cause discomfort and limitations in shoulder function. Moreover, it is associated with surgical site infections, often requires treatment and increases healthcare consumption. Wound healing problems might be a cause of postponement of adjuvant therapy.

The quilting suture technique, in which the skin is sutured to the pectoralis muscle and drain placement is not needed, may lead to a significant reduction of seroma with a decrease in the number of aspirations and surgical site infections.

In this national multicentric study, we will compare mastectomy with placement of suction drains, a standard technique used in the vast majority of Belgian hospitals, with the new quilting suture technique without placement of suction drains. We will focus on 3 distinct primary outcomes:

• Pain of the mastectomy area 6 months after surgery
• Upper limb function 6 months after surgery
• Cosmetic outcome scored by the patient 6 months after surgery.

The goal of this study is to demonstrate the absence of long-term negative effects of the quilting suture technique on shoulder function, cosmetic outcome, and pain management.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Breast Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Mastectomy with Quilting sutures without drain placement; Procedure: Mastectomy with Conventional sutures with drain placement

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 296
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Leuven, Belgium, 3000
    • Recruiting
    • Surgical Oncology, UZ Leuven
    • Contact: Hanne Vos, PhD; Phone Number: 016340903; Email: hanne.vos@uzleuven.be
    • Principal Investigator: Ann Smeets, MD, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• capable of giving written informed consent
• age ≥ 18 years
• scheduled for unilateral mastectomy without immediate breast reconstruction with or without axillary surgery (sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection)

Exclusion Criteria:

• scheduled for mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction
• scheduled for synchronous bilateral breast and/or axillary surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Quilting sutures without drain placement	Procedure: Mastectomy with Quilting sutures without drain placement; The nipple-areola complex is removed, and dissection of skin flaps is performed using electrocautery. The breast tissue, including the prepectoral fascia is removed from the pectoral muscle. After the mastectomy, the skin flaps are sutured onto the pectoral muscle using polyfilament absorbable sutures (e.g. Stratafix PDS® 1 CT needle) placed at 4- to 5-cm intervals in two or three rows depending on the extent of the skin flaps. Care is taken to prevent dimpling of the skin. The axillary region is also approximated. Care is taken to prevent damage to nerves and blood vessels. No suction drains are placed. For skin closure, the edges are sutured using absorbable monofilament sutures (e.g. Biosyn l® 3-0, Monocryl® 3-0) depending on the surgeon's preference.
Active Comparator: Conventional sutures with drain placement	Procedure: Mastectomy with Conventional sutures with drain placement; The nipple-areola complex is removed, and dissection of skin flaps is performed using electrocautery. The breast tissue, including the prepectoral fascia is removed from the pectoral muscle. After mastectomy no flap fixation is performed. The skin is closed in a conventional manner using an absorbable skin suture. One or two suction drains are placed before skin closure. The drains are placed in the mastectomy gutter lateral to the pectoral muscle and/or in the prepectoral area. For skin closure, the edges are sutured using absorbable monofilament sutures (e.g. Biosyn l® 3-0, Monocryl® 3-0) depending on the surgeon's preference. Drain output is recorded daily. Drain removal policy varies among participating centres. In some centres drain removal is based on volume of drained fluids while in other centres it depends on the postoperative time

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pain in the mastectomy area scored by VAS	A non-inferiority margin of 10 mm was adopted, which implies that a difference between both arms up to 10 mm in favour of the standard approach would be clinically acceptable	6 months postoperative
Upper limb function scored by QuickDASH	A non-inferiority margin of 10 points was adopted, which implies that a difference between both arms up to 10 points in favour of the standard approach would be clinically acceptable.	6 months postoperative
Cosmetic outcome scored by the patient on a 10-point scale	A non-inferiority margin of 1 point on the 10-point scale was adopted which implies that a difference between both arms up to 1 point in favour of the standard approach would be clinically acceptable	6 months postoperative

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
• Collaborators: Belgium Health Care Knowledge Centre
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ann Smeets, MD,PhD, UZ Leuven

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 23, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 13, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 16, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 21, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 17, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Pain; Upper limb function; Mastectomy; Cosmetic outcome; Quilting; Drain policy
• Other Study ID Numbers: S66948

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No