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Choosing a Surgeon | Choosing an Implant | Choosing the Surgical Incision Site | Choosing the Type of Implant Placement | General Description of Breast Implant Surgery | After the Surgery | Choices in Reconstructive Procedures | Breast Reconstruction with Breast Implants | Immediate reconstruction is one-stage or two-stage reconstruction | Breast Reconstruction with Tissue Flaps | Questions to Ask Your Surgeon about Breast Augmentation | Questions to Ask Your Surgeon about Breast Reconstruction
Breast
Implant Surgery
Breast
Reconstruction with Tissue Flaps The
breast can be reconstructed by surgically moving a section of skin, fat, muscle,
and blood vessels from one area of your body to another. The tissue may be taken
from such areas as your lower abdominal area, upper back, or buttocks. The
most common types of tissue flaps are: - the
TRAM (transverse rectus abdominus musculocutaneous) flap that uses tissue from
the lower abdominal area
- the
Latissimus Dorsi flap that uses tissue from the upper back.
Flap
surgery has the advantage of using your own tissue to construct a new breast.
However, it is important for you to be aware that flap surgery, particularly TRAM
flap surgery, is a major operation and more extensive than your mastectomy operation
or breast implant surgery. It requires good general health and strong emotional
motivation. If you are very overweight, smoke cigarettes, have had previous surgery
at the flap site, or have any circulatory problems, you may not be a good candidate
for a tissue flap procedure. Also, if you are very thin, you may not have enough
tissue at the flap site to construct a breast mound. Tissue
flaps, in general, can be moved to the reconstruction site by one of two methods.
The first method is when the flap is left attached to the muscle and blood vessels
and tunneled under the skin to the reconstruction site. The second method is when
the flap is completely removed and then transferred to the reconstruction site
and reattached by microsurgery. More specifically, the TRAM flap can be done by
either of these two methods while the Latissimus Dorsi flap procedure involves
only the first method. In addition, for TRAM flap surgery, your surgeon may also
need to build you a new belly button after the lower abdominal area is reshaped.
Flap surgery
requires a hospital stay of several days and generally a longer recovery time
than breast implant reconstruction. While you can resume normal daily activity
after several weeks, some women report that it takes up to one year to resume
a normal lifestyle. Flap
surgery also creates scars at the site where the flap was taken and possibly additional
scars on the reconstructed breast. You may also have some temporary or permanent
decreased muscle strength at the flap site. As
a special note regarding the TRAM flap procedure, if you are considering pregnancy
after your reconstruction, you should discuss with your surgeon how this procedure
may affect your abdominal muscle strength. In addition, although abdominal tissue
feels like breast tissue to the touch, the nerves are cut during the surgery,
so there may be little feeling or sensitivity in your breast. Also, you should
know that a surgeon can take tissue from your abdomen only once. If you later
need a mastectomy of your second breast and want to have a tissue flap procedure,
then the tissue will have to come from another site, such as your back.
Choosing a Surgeon | Choosing an Implant | Choosing the Surgical Incision Site | Choosing the Type of Implant Placement | General Description of Breast Implant Surgery | After the Surgery | Choices in Reconstructive Procedures | Breast Reconstruction with Breast Implants | Immediate reconstruction is one-stage or two-stage reconstruction | Breast Reconstruction with Tissue Flaps | Questions to Ask Your Surgeon about Breast Augmentation | Questions to Ask Your Surgeon about Breast Reconstruction
FDA
Breast Implant Consumer Handbook - 2004
U.
S. Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/breastimplants/handbook2004/glossary.html More
Information ... |
