To investigate the therapeutical effect of fiberoptic ductoscopy and O₃ treatment for plasma cell mastitis (PCM) with nipple discharge and lumps.

Totally 50 PCM patients with nipple discharge and lumps in the Fourth People’s Hospital of Zhenjiang from December 2013 to February 2016 were enrolled for a prospective study. By flipping the coin, they were randomly divided into two groups: one group receiving fiberoptic ductoscopy combined with O₃ treatment (n=25) and the other group receiving conventional treatment (n=25). The Mann-Whitney U test and χ² test were used to compare the therapeutical effect, duration and cost of therapy between two groups.

On the third day of the treatment, the lump was significantly reduced in fiberoptic ductoscopy group compared with conventional treatment group [volume reduction: 40.0(25.3-51.1)% vs 16.7(8.9-28.8)%, Z=-3.800, P< 0.001] and the numerical rating scale (NRS) scores for pain was significantly lower in fiberoptic ductoscopy group than that in conventional treatment group [3.0(2.0-4.0) vs (5.0-6.0), Z=-2.717, P=0.007]. The fiberoptic ductoscopy group showed a significantly higher effective rate [92%(23/25) vs 68% (17/25), χ²=4.500, P= 0.034] and shorter duration [9.0 (7.0-12.5) d vs 18.0(14.0-24.5) d, Z=-4.308, P<0.001) compared with conventional treatment group, but there was no significant difference in cost of therapy [2 947.0(2 406.0-3 517.5) RMB vs 3 033.0(2 515.5-4 839.5) RMB, Z=-0.611, P=0.541].

Fiberoptic ductoscopy and O₃ treatment for plasma cell mastitis with nipple discharge and lumps are clinically feasible, which can quickly reduce the lump size, relieve the pain, decrease the treatment duration and increase the effective rate, without increasing the cost of therapy.