How bad is numbness after DIEP reconstruction?

Question

I am considering Risk reducing bilateral mastectomy (BRCA 2) with DIEP reconstruction. I know there is supposed to be permanent numbness of the chest afterward. How numb is numb? I cannot stand numbness after dental work so I opt to NOT have lidocaine for dental work and I deal with the pain of the drill instead. Will I not be able to stand my chest afterward due to numbness? Will I not be able to feel an irritating bra?

Manish C. Champaneria, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question.Typically a DIEP flap does not bring sensation with it to the chest. Therefore, your flaps and breast reconstruction will likely be insensate. There is the potential for nerve reconnection, but not commonly performed.Regards,Manish Champaneria, MD

Aldona J. Spiegel, MD · Answer

This is an excellent question asked by many of my patients. In fact, this is something that i wanted to improve for my patients and now routinely connect the nerves when performing DIEP flap reconstruction. I have published by research to show that this does indeed help to improve the sensation. I believe this is possible, and encourage more surgeons to provide this option to their patients.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

While most surgeons do not try to re-attach a sensory nerve during DIEP flap, there are some that do. I will not say that there is a lot of success in bringing close to normal sensation to the flaps but some do attempt it. Most surgeons do not reattach nerves and the skin flaps are usually insensate.

How bad is numbness after DIEP reconstruction?

Answers (3)