Quality of Surgical Outcomes Reporting in Plastic Surgery: A 15 Year Analysis of Complication Data

Background: Postoperative complication data are integral to assessing patient outcomes and identifying areas to improve quality in surgical care. Accurate appraisal of surgical techniques requires consistency and reliability in complication data reporting. The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality of complication reporting in plastic surgery. Methods: The authors critically reviewed the literature from January 1st, 2000 to December 31st, 2014 to identify articles reporting surgical outcomes after 3 index procedures (autologous breast reconstruction, prosthetic breast reconstruction and reduction mammaplasty). Studies were extracted from the journals Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Annals of Plastic Surgery. Two authors independently analyzed data using a modification of established criteria for complication reporting that incorporates 10 critical elements. Results: 296 articles reporting outcomes for 299,819 procedures in 249,942 patients were analyzed. Of the 10 reporting criteria, no articles met all criteria,