Immediate reconstruction for early disease

Hello,

If you have early disease without the perceived need for chemotherapy or radiation, then immediate reconstruction is probably best. Skin sparing mastectomy leads to more tissue available for reconstruction and this is particularly important if an implant-based reconstruction is planned. If you have a lot of disease and the thinking is that radiation therapy or high dose chemo will be needed, then my tendency is to wait until the dust clears to plan the reconstruction.

This is controversial.

Immediate breast reconstruction with either implants or your own tissues has several advantages:

1-The skin available after mastectomy is used immediately for reconstruction. Other wise you could loose some of the elasticity and stretch in delayed cases.

2-The psychological effect of a mastectomy is much less since there will be a breast either with expanders or your own tissues. The subsequent stages will shape it more and add the nipple reconstruction.

3-You are already under anesthesia and will be hospitalized for the mastectomy.

The only factor that could delay the immediate reconstruction decision is the post operative radiation. Most Board certified plastic surgeons will not perform an immediate reconstruction with your own tissues if you will have radiation. This will protect the flap (your own tissues) from the effects of radiation.

However, more plastic surgeon are using an expander any way at the time of mastectomy so it would keep the skin stretched .Following completion of radiation the expander could be changed to an implant or to a flap.

I hope this will help!

1 of 1 found this helpful

Helpful?

Contact the doctor