American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Enhance your preparation for the American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam with our interactive tools. Engage in flashcards and multiple choice questions, each paired with detailed hints and explanations. Prepare with confidence!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What is a contraindication for performing a TRAM flap reconstruction?

Age over 50
Obesity
Smoker
History of diabetes

The correct answer is: Obesity

A TRAM (Transverse Rectus Abdominis Muscle) flap reconstruction involves transferring tissue from the abdominal area to create a breast mound after mastectomy. One of the key considerations during patient selection for this procedure is the patient's body composition, particularly obesity. Obesity can pose several risks during surgery, including increased likelihood of complications such as wound infection, delayed healing, and issues associated with anesthesia. Excess adipose tissue can also reduce the available flap volume and increase the technical complexity of the surgery, which can lead to suboptimal aesthetic outcomes. Therefore, being overweight or obese is a contraindication because it significantly impacts both the safety and effectiveness of the TRAM flap procedure. In contrast, age over 50, being a smoker, or having a history of diabetes may present challenges but do not universally contraindicate the procedure. Many older patients can still undergo successful TRAM flap reconstructions, and while smoking and diabetes increase surgical risks, they are managed through preoperative counseling and perioperative measures rather than serving as absolute contraindications.