{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T13:04:58Z","timestamp":1780578298483,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780531200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Thanks to its capacity to increase wound healing, NPWD (Negative-Pressure Wound Dressing) showed promising results in breast surgery. The authors developed the NDoCaSco system for select patients that may benefit the most from NPWD after breast oncologic surgery, aiming to improve outcomes in patients at risk for wound dehiscence and breast reconstruction failure. Methods: Patients scheduled for breast oncologic surgery were enrolled between 2022 and 2023. Surgical wound dressing was selected prior to assessing the risk for post-operative complications with the NDoCaSco. Low-risk patients (NDoCaSco score: 15\u201321) received traditional compressive dressing, while moderate- (NDoCaSco: 8\u201314) and high-risk (NDoCaSco: 0\u20137) patients received short-term or long-term NPWD, respectively. Results: Healing time and outcomes were compared to a retrospective control group that underwent the same surgeries between 2019 and 2021 and received traditional compressive wound dressing in all cases. The study population included 739 patients with an average age of 62.3 years (range, 29\u201395) and a mean BMI of 25.2 kg\/m2 (range, 16\u201346). Breast-conserving surgery was performed in 437 cases, and 302 received mastectomy with implant-based reconstruction. A total of 152 patients scored medium (140 cases) or low (12 cases) NDoCaSco and received NPWD. Post-operative complications\u2019 incidence, healing time, and drain removal time were lower in the study group, while scar quality was consistently improved with NPWD when comparing the two middle-risk groups. Conclusions: NDoCaSco helped in identifying patients who benefit the most from NPWD, achieving faster healing and reduction in outpatient visits and hospital admissions, leading to a lower expenditure of resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm16060305","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T11:52:30Z","timestamp":1780573950000},"page":"305","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Preventing Early Complications Following Oncologic Breast Surgery: The NDoCaSco Score for Targeted Negative-Pressure Wound Dressing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Donato","family":"Casella","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery Sciences, AOU Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza di Torino\u2014Molinette Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5450-0498","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juste","family":"Kaciulyte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncologic Breast Surgery Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Bartalini Cinughi de Pazzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncologic Breast Surgery Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1340-3340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Sanvitale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7095-2010","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessia","family":"Pagnotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Umberto I Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6011-3128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pietro Maria","family":"Ferrando","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plastic Surgery Department, AOU Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza di Torino\u2014San Lazzaro Hospital, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Neri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncologic Breast Surgery Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Marcasciano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, \u201cMagna Graecia\u201d University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federico","family":"Lo Torto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, \u201cG. D\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Cancer Research, UK (2025, May 06). Breast Cancer Incidence (Invasive) Statistics. Available online: https:\/\/www.cancerresearchuk.org\/health-professional\/cancer-statistics\/statistics-by-cancer-type\/breast-cancer\/incidence-invasive#heading-Zero."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2025, May 06). Cancer Register in Italy in 2020. 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