A

Evidence from a retrospective study of 49 patients undergoing immediate two-stage expander/implant breast reconstruction with adjuvant radiotherapy showed that the group whose expanders were deflated at the time of irradiation experienced markedly higher overall radiation-related complication rates (65 % vs 6.9 %) and reconstruction failures (35 % vs 6.9 %) compared with the fully inflated group. Multivariable analysis confirmed deflation as an independent risk factor for complications and failures [Woo et al., 2017, PMID: 28374300]. These findings indicate that expander deflation worsens the adverse effects of radiotherapy, supporting a “yes” answer to the question.