Same-Day Awake Mastectomy With Immediate Breast Reconstruction for Patients With Breast Cancer (AMADeuS)

April 1, 2026 updated by: Gianluca Vanni, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Evaluation of Safety, Quality of Life, Cost and Environmental Impact of Day Surgery in Mastectomy and Prepectoral Reconstruction - Awake MAstectomy in Day Surgery With Immediate Prepectoral Implant Reconstruction and Muscle Sparing

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the AMADeuS care pathway is as safe as usual hospital care and works as well for pain control in women having mastectomy with immediate prepectoral breast reconstruction. The study will also look at quality of life, satisfaction with care, hospital resource use, and environmental impact.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Does the AMADeuS pathway control pain during the first 48 hours after surgery as well as usual hospital care?
  2. Is the AMADeuS pathway as safe as usual hospital care during the first 30 days after surgery?
  3. Can the AMADeuS pathway improve recovery, reduce hospital stay and hospital visits, and lower the environmental impact of care?

Researchers will compare the AMADeuS pathway with usual hospital care. In the AMADeuS pathway, participants will have awake surgery with monitored anesthesia care, same-day discharge when safe, and follow-up that includes telemedicine. In the usual care group, participants will receive the hospital's standard perioperative care, which usually includes admission to the ward and follow-up visits at the hospital.

Participants may be women 18 to 75 years old who need nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral reconstruction for early breast cancer or to lower future breast cancer risk. Participants must be suitable for day surgery and telemedicine follow-up. This includes having home support during the first 24 hours after surgery and living close enough to the hospital for safe discharge.

Participants will:

  • be assigned by chance to the AMADeuS pathway or to usual hospital care have mastectomy with immediate prepectoral reconstruction report their pain during the first 48 hours after surgery
  • be checked for medical problems during the first 30 days after surgery complete questionnaires about quality of life, symptoms, and satisfaction with care during follow-up
  • have follow-up visits either through telemedicine and planned local care support or through standard hospital follow-up, depending on the group they are assigned to

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Breast cancer remains one of the most common indications for mastectomy, despite the increasing use of breast-conserving approaches in selected patients. In current practice, nipple-sparing mastectomy and skin-sparing mastectomy followed by immediate implant-based reconstruction aim to maintain oncologic safety while improving aesthetic, functional, and psychosocial outcomes. Within implant-based reconstruction, the prepectoral approach avoids elevation of the pectoralis major muscle and may reduce muscle-related morbidity, postoperative pain, and animation deformity in appropriately selected participants.

Perioperative breast surgery pathways are also evolving toward higher-value care models based on enhanced recovery after surgery, opioid-sparing anesthesia, day surgery, and structured remote follow-up. Existing evidence supporting same-day discharge after mastectomy with immediate reconstruction suggests that this approach can be feasible and safe in selected patients when perioperative criteria and post-discharge support are standardized. In parallel, healthcare systems are increasingly required to consider resource use and environmental impact in addition to conventional clinical outcomes.

The AMADeuS protocol (Awake MAstectomy in Day surgery with immediate prepectoral implant reconstruction and muscle Sparing) was developed to integrate these elements into a single perioperative pathway for patients undergoing nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral prosthetic reconstruction. The study is a prospective randomized single-center trial comparing the AMADeuS pathway with the institution's standard perioperative management. Its overall aim is to determine whether this integrated pathway can maintain clinical safety and adequate postoperative pain control while improving recovery, reducing hospital resource use, and lowering the environmental burden of care.

In the experimental arm, the AMADeuS pathway combines outpatient-oriented pre-admission planning, enhanced recovery principles, awake monitored anesthesia care with local anesthesia and interfascial locoregional blocks when appropriate, multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia, same-day discharge when discharge criteria are met, and structured telemedicine-supported follow-up. Preoperative management includes reduced fasting, carbohydrate loading, and risk-adapted thromboprophylaxis. Intraoperative management includes systematic antiemetic prophylaxis, targeted oxygen delivery, and minimization of unnecessary drug and material use according to a "do not open unless needed" approach. The operating room workflow is also organized to reduce waste through modular instrument sets opened only if required, reduced use of disposable devices, monitoring of personnel present in the room, and segregation of waste into predefined categories for environmental assessment. Postoperatively, the pathway promotes early oral intake, early mobilization, short ambulatory observation, same-day discharge when clinically appropriate, telemedicine review at 7 days, and suture removal either in clinic or through local primary care support.

In the control arm, participants undergo the same underlying surgical indication and reconstructive strategy within the hospital's usual care pathway. Standard care includes inpatient admission, perioperative management according to routine anesthetic and surgical practice, postoperative ward stay, and in-person postoperative follow-up. In this arm, anesthesia technique, airway management, instrument preparation, and operating room waste handling are left to standard institutional practice and clinician preference rather than protocolized sustainability measures.

The study is centered on early postoperative pain control as the primary efficacy objective and 30-day postoperative safety as a key safety objective. In addition, the protocol prospectively evaluates postoperative recovery, patient-reported outcomes, healthcare use, and environment-related outcome measures. Patient-reported assessments include global and breast-specific quality of life, reconstruction-related satisfaction and well-being, general health status, satisfaction with care, telemedicine satisfaction, and chronic postsurgical pain over follow-up. Environment-related measures quantify the carbon footprint of the care pathway through transport-related burden, operating room waste and resource use, and hospitalization-related impact.

The statistical framework includes randomized group comparison with intention-to-treat as the primary analytic approach, supported by per-protocol and safety analyses. The trial is powered on a non-inferiority hypothesis for early postoperative pain control. Based on the protocol assumptions, the planned enrollment is 100 participants overall, with 50 participants per group. Because uncommon postoperative adverse events would require a much larger sample size for a formal non-inferiority demonstration, the 30-day safety endpoint will be interpreted primarily through effect estimates and confidence intervals, with an additional supportive non-inferiority analysis specified in the protocol.

Overall, AMADeuS is intended to test a structured model of breast surgery that combines oncologically standard mastectomy and immediate prepectoral reconstruction with awake perioperative management, day-surgery organization, telemedicine-enabled follow-up, and sustainability-oriented operating room practices. The study is designed to evaluate whether this pathway can support a broader transition toward more efficient, patient-centered, and environmentally responsible surgical care without compromising early clinical outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

    • Rome
      • Rome, Rome, Italy, 00133
        • Recruiting
        • PTV Policlinico Tor Vergata University Hospital
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

**Inclusion Criteria:**

  • Biologically female participants aged 18 to 75 years
  • Oncologic or prophylactic indication for nipple-sparing mastectomy or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral reconstruction using a definitive implant or tissue expander, including early breast cancer or a high-risk genetic condition such as BRCA
  • Eligible for prepectoral reconstruction based on clinico-anatomic criteria, including adequate skin flap thickness, no relevant vascular compromise, body mass index less than 35, and no severe prior chest radiotherapy
  • American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I to III
  • Eligible for day surgery, defined by home autonomy, caregiver availability during the first 24 hours after surgery, and distance from the hospital compatible with home management
  • Able and willing to complete telemedicine follow-up, including completion of protocol-required patient-reported outcome measures
  • Written informed consent provided

**Exclusion Criteria:**

  • Chronic opioid use or treatment for pre-existing chronic pain that could interfere with assessment of the primary postoperative pain endpoint
  • Contraindications to locoregional anesthesia techniques or to the awake/monitored anesthesia care protocol, including allergy to local anesthetics, coagulation disorders, or inability to cooperate during surgery
  • Body mass index 35 or greater, or anatomic conditions contraindicating prepectoral reconstruction
  • Previous high-dose chest radiotherapy with significant tissue compromise
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Inability to guarantee planned follow-up or lack of adequate home support
  • Psychiatric or cognitive conditions preventing correct completion of patient-reported outcome measures

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: AMADeuS Pathway
Participants assigned to this arm undergo nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral implant-based reconstruction within the AMADeuS perioperative pathway. This pathway includes awake monitored anesthesia care with local anesthesia and interfascial locoregional blocks when appropriate, multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia, enhanced recovery measures, same-day discharge when discharge criteria are met, telemedicine-supported follow-up, and sustainability-oriented operating room practices.
Integrated perioperative care pathway for participants undergoing nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral implant-based reconstruction. The pathway includes same-day admission, awake monitored anesthesia care without routine airway devices, local anesthesia and interfascial blocks when appropriate, multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia, enhanced recovery measures, same-day discharge when discharge criteria are met, telemedicine follow-up at 7 days, and sustainability-oriented operating room practices including selective opening of instrument sets and waste segregation.
Active Comparator: Usual Care Pathway
Participants assigned to this arm undergo nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral implant-based reconstruction within the institution's standard perioperative care pathway. Usual care includes inpatient admission, perioperative anesthetic and surgical management according to routine clinical practice, postoperative ward stay, discharge in the following days as clinically indicated, and standard in-person hospital follow-up.
Standard institutional perioperative care for participants undergoing nipple-sparing or skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate prepectoral implant-based reconstruction. This pathway includes hospital admission according to routine practice, anesthetic management based on clinician judgment, possible use of general anesthesia or airway devices when indicated, standard inpatient postoperative stay, discharge in the following days based on clinical status, routine in-person postoperative follow-up, and standard operating room organization without protocolized sustainability measures.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative pain at rest over 48 hours
Time Frame: 0 to 48 hours after surgery
Pain control will be assessed as the area under the curve (AUC) for Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS, 0-10) pain at rest measured at 0, 2, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. Lower values indicate less postoperative pain. The primary analysis is based on non-inferiority of the AMADeuS pathway versus usual care.
0 to 48 hours after surgery
Major Postoperative Safety Composite at 30 days
Time Frame: Within 30 days after surgery
Composite rate of major postoperative safety events within 30 days, including Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher complications, unplanned reoperation, unplanned hospital readmission, or procedure-related emergency department access.
Within 30 days after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative pain during movement over 48 hours
Time Frame: 0 to 48 hours after surgery
Pain during movement will be assessed as the area under the curve (AUC) for Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS, 0-10) pain during mobilization measured at 0, 2, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. Lower values indicate less postoperative pain during movement.
0 to 48 hours after surgery
Maximum postoperative pain over 48 hours
Time Frame: 0 to 48 hours after surgery
Highest Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS, 0-10) score recorded during the first 48 hours after surgery. Lower values indicate less severe pain.
0 to 48 hours after surgery
Rescue analgesic use over 48 hours
Time Frame: 0 to 48 hours after surgery
Number of rescue analgesic administrations required during the first 48 hours after surgery.
0 to 48 hours after surgery
Postoperative nausea and vomiting over 48 hours
Time Frame: 0 to 48 hours after surgery
Occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting recorded during the first 48 hours after surgery.
0 to 48 hours after surgery
Time to mobilization
Time Frame: Within 48 hours after surgery
Time from the end of surgery to first mobilization, measured in hours.
Within 48 hours after surgery
Same-day discharge rate
Time Frame: Day of surgery
Proportion of participants discharged on the day of surgery.
Day of surgery
Length of hospital stay
Time Frame: Within 30 days after surgery
Total postoperative hospital stay, measured in days.
Within 30 days after surgery
Chronic postsurgical pain at 3 months
Time Frame: 3 months after surgery
Presence of chronic postsurgical pain at 3 months, defined by persistent pain with Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score 3 or higher, with evaluation of weekly pain frequency and functional interference.
3 months after surgery
Chronic postsurgical pain at 6 months
Time Frame: 6 months after surgery
Presence of chronic postsurgical pain at 6 months, defined by persistent pain with Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score 3 or higher, with evaluation of weekly pain frequency and functional interference
6 months after surgery
Global health-related quality of life
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Change in European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) scores over follow-up.
Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Breast cancer-specific quality of life
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Change in European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer breast cancer module scores (EORTC QLQ-BR42) over follow-up.
Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Care pathway utilization
Time Frame: From surgery through 12 months after surgery
Organizational outcomes including number of outpatient visits, number of telemedicine visits, total duration of the care pathway in days, and involvement of primary care support.
From surgery through 12 months after surgery
Reconstruction-related satisfaction and well-being
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Change in BREAST-Q Reconstruction scores over follow-up.
Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
General health status
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Change in Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) scores over follow-up.
Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Operating room resource use
Time Frame: During surgery
Operating room resource use, including operating room time, number of personnel present, number and type of surgical kits opened, and use of disposable devices.
During surgery
Satisfaction with care
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Change in Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire Short Form (PSQ-18) scores over follow-up.
Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Telemedicine satisfaction
Time Frame: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire (TSQ) scores among participants managed in the AMADeuS pathway.
1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months
Carbon footprint from waste generation
Time Frame: From Admission to surgical room, until hospital discharge
Estimated carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with operating room and care pathway waste, based on measured waste categories.
From Admission to surgical room, until hospital discharge
Carbon footprint from transport
Time Frame: From surgery through 30 days after surgery
Estimated carbon dioxide equivalent emissions related to participant travel, based on distance traveled and hospital accesses avoided.
From surgery through 30 days after surgery
Carbon footprint from hospitalization
Time Frame: Within 30 days after surgery
Estimated carbon dioxide equivalent emissions related to hospital stay, based on length of stay and bed-day emission factors.
Within 30 days after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Gianluca Vanni, Associate Professor, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 14, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data underlying the results reported in publications may be shared with qualified researchers on reasonable request after publication of the primary results. Data sharing will be subject to institutional approval, compliance with applicable privacy and data protection regulations, and execution of an appropriate data sharing agreement.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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