Recovery is now easier than in the past:
-It’s a great pleasure good results.
-Better and safer techniquesand materials (expanders with integrated valve).
-The medical world (breast surgeons, etc.) has now understood that this operation does not cause metastases or hide any local recurrence, and is not opposed to it.
Breast reconstruction can be done in the following ways:
- Restoration with vouchers skin (tissue expanders) and implants. It is the most common way of rehabilitation as it is the simplest and the most popular choice (about 80% of patients).
- Restoration with autologous tissues (i.e. from the patient’s own body) and flaps (dorsal or rectus abdominis muscle).
This operation is usually performed after the treatments (e.g. radiation, chemotherapy) have ended and the patient is considered cured.
- Combination of the above, as well as addition of fat, tissue which is rich in stem cells and helps in the final aesthetic result, especially if it has been preceded by radiation, which causes “hardening” of the skin.
In case of breast reconstruction with flat dorsal muscle, which is the most common, needs additional skin, either because of extensive removal and a large deficit or because of the need to achieve symmetry. The broad dorsalis muscle with a skin island is carried through a passage under the skin of the axilla to the anterior chest wall and creates a sheath for the prosthesis or voucher to be inserted. This method is usually preferred in cases where there has been previous radiotherapy on the skin of the anterior chest wall.
Finally, in the case of restoration with a free flap (Diep Flap), no insert is used. Part of the skin and fat are removed from the abdomen and transferred to the donor area (breast), where they are kept alive through microsurgical anastomosis of the donor and recipient vessels using a microscope. This procedure takes about 5 – 6 hours and requires a stay in the clinic for 5 days. The result is completely natural and at the same time a simultaneous aesthetic improvement in the abdominal area is achieved, since the removal of the tissue is followed by a tummy tuck.
Sometimes it may be necessary to intervene in the other breast in order to achieve the best possible symmetry.
