Free breast reconstruction risk assessment tool for surgeons and their patients

Thorough contemplation of risk is a central tenet of both the patient-surgeon dialogue and surgical decision-making. To aid in these processes, The Breast Reconstruction Risk Assessment (BRA) Score was developed by John YS Kim and his research associates, Alexei Mlodinow and Nima Khavanin, at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Simply open this tool, answer 12 simple questions about the characteristics of the patient contemplating breast reconstruction, and get back a list of probabilities associated with various post-operative complications, stratified by reconstruction type. The BRA Score uses statistical models of risk, which were derived from multiple robust surgical outcomes databases, in order to produce individualized predictions of complications following breast reconstruction. For more information about the development or use of this tool, please see the following peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts:

1. Kim JY, Mlodinow AS, Khavanin N, Hume KM, Simmons CJ, Weiss MJ, Murphy RX Jr, Gutowski KA. Individualized Risk of Surgical Complications: An Application of the Breast Reconstruction Risk Assessment Score. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2015 Jun 5;3(5):e405.

2. Kim JY, Khavanin N, Jordan SW, ver Halen JP, Mlodinow AS, Bethke KP, Khan SA, Hansen NM, Losken A, Fine NA. Individualized risk of surgical-site infection: an application of the breast reconstruction risk assessment score. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014 Sep;134(3):351e-362e

3. Khavanin N, Kim JY, Davila AA, Ver Halen JP, Mlodinow AS, Bethke KP, Khan SA, Jeruss JS, Hansen NM, Bilimoria KY, Losken A, Fine NA. Abstract 46: The BRA Score: Creating a General Risk Calculator for Breast Reconstruction Outcomes. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2014 Mar;133(3 Suppl):56-7.

Special thanks to Heather Mlodinow, Fernando Echeverria, and Michael Vu for their contributions to the online and mobile incarnations of this work.