IS BREAST REDUCTION A FUNCTIONAL OR A COSMETIC OPERATION? PROPOSAL OF AN OBJECTIVE DISCRIMINATING CRITERION

Classification of breast reduction as a functional or cosmetic operation is an unresolved issue. Indeed, surgical reduction of the breast is equally indicated both for correction of functional sequelae of breast hypertrophy and for a merely subjective aesthetic discomfort. Nevertheless, the social cost containment policies of Public Health Systems require objective criteria to accurately discriminate functional from cosmetic procedures. Although several criteria are currently adopted by the national and international associations of plastic surgeons, none of them appears to fulfill the aim of objectively discriminating the functional from cosmetic indications in breast reduction. An original, objective criterion was developed at the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department of the University of Pavia