DIEP flaps are commonly used to reconstruct the breast following mastectomy in the setting of radiation. After a mastectomy and radiation, the skin that has been radiated, will not expand appropriately to accept an implant. Often the tissue has been damaged from the radiation and needs to be excised to appropriately reconstruct the breast. Autologous tissue reconstruction is the reconstruction…
Radiation therapy is often a necessary tool in the treatment of breast cancer. When breast reconstructions have been radiated, a patient’s skin and soft tissues can react in many different ways. The breast implant beneath the radiated tissue can undergo capsular contracture and occasionally the skin can undergo degenerative changes that can lead to wound breakdown and possible implant exposure.…
DIEP or deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flaps for breast reconstruction are commonly used in delayed breast reconstruction and following radiation therapy. Breast reconstruction with DIEP flaps typically require three stages of surgery to maximize the symmetry that is able to be obtained. In the first stage, the skin and fat from the lower abdomen is harvested and then transferred…
DIEP flap breast reconstruction is becoming more common. Patients who are seen in consultation for mastectomy often choose to undergo autologous breast reconstruction. Patients who wish to undergo autolgous reconstruction choose to use their own body tissue to reconstruct their breasts. When patients use their own body tissue for reconstruction, it obviates the need for breast implants. Patients may not…
Autologous breast reconstruction involves the use of the patient’s own body tissue (skin and fat) to reconstruct the breasts. The lower abdominal tissue is often the most frequently used autologous tissue donor site. Patients can undergo either immediate reconstruction following mastectomy or delayed reconstruction following mastectomy. When patients are not likely to need radiation following mastectomy, it is often better…
Your Breast Reconstruction Options After Radiation The lower abdomen is traditionally used as the donor site for reconstruction following mastectomy when the remaining skin and subcutaneous tissue has been damaged by radiation. Not all patients respond to radiation in the same way. Some patients may receive lower doses of radiation and show significant signs of radiation damage and others may…
We are seeing more women in our office who are choosing to undergo breast reconstruction following mastectomy with their own body tissue. We are also noticing an increasing number of women, who, when appropriate candidates opt to spare their nipple areola complexes following mastectomy. When the skin and breast tissue are removed following mastectomy, the skin and fat from the…
Breast reconstruction following mastectomy can be challenging for both the patient and surgeon. Breast reconstruction can be performed immediately following mastectomy or can be performed in a delayed fashion where a patient undergoes a mastectomy in one procedure and then implant or autologous tissue reconstruction in another procedure. I typically educate patients who undergo reconstruction with tissue expanders or implants…
DIEP flaps are autologous tissue flap reconstructions where the tissue from the lower abdomen is transferred to chest using microsurgical techniques. The benefit of autologous tissue reconstruction is that the look and feel of the breast is natural and the reconstruction is durable. One of the secondary benefits of the DIEP flap breast reconstruction is that as the lower abdominal…
Autologous breast reconstruction involves reconstructing the breast following mastectomy with the patient’s own body tissues. Patients who are candidates for autologous breast reconstruction are patients who have had radiation to the breast skin, those who have had repeated infections or capsular contracture, or those patients who wish to undergo breast reconstruction without implants. Other types of patients who are candidates…
Patients typically ask in consultation what the recovery is like following DIEP or TRAM Flap surgery. I find that patients may have some misconceptions regarding how they are going to look and feel post-operatively. Typically at one week post-operatively, most or all drains have been removed and steri-strips remain in place on the breast reconstruction or on the abdomen. Bruising…
Typically, breast reconstruction with autologous tissue occurs in three stages. For deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flaps, the skin and fat is harvested from the lower abdomen and transferred to the mastectomy site. In the second stage of the reconstruction which occurs at a later date, a symmetry procedure is performed on the reconstructed breast mound. Additionally, at that time,…