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  • How is Tissue Used for Breast Reconstruction?
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Using your own tissue is also known as autologous reconstruction. There are several options to use your own tissue to reconstruct your breasts. Traditional techniques include the latissimus flap where you're taking skin, fat and muscle from your back and rotating it forward to the chest wall. Generally latissimus flap reconstruction requires an implant.

The other traditional option is using your lower abdominal tissue with a procedure called the TRAM flap where you're taking the excess skin and fat in your lower belly and you're taking the skin, fat and its underlying muscle, and you're tunneling the skin, fat and muscle up to the chest wall from your lower belly to rebuild and restore your breast. The newer state of the art technique that we perform on a weekly basis is called the D.I.E.P. flap procedure, or the DIEP flap procedure.

Now, this DIEP flap procedure is a state of the art procedure, in that, it's like the TRAM flap, in that, it harvests and takes the excess skin and fat that would be normally thrown away in a cosmetic tummy tuck and uses that excess skin and fat to restore your breast. The DIEP flap is very different than its predecessor the TRAM flap, in that, the DIEP flap does not need to take your abdominal wall muscles. In other words, the DIEP flap is an abdominal wall muscle or muscle-sparing procedure.

The DIEP flap, we take only what we need which is the excess skin and fat. In these autologous procedures using the lower abdominal tissue, the nice fringe benefit advantages the way we close up the donor site, you get a tummy tuck out of that procedure. Our tolerance to reconstruction, the advantage of autologous reconstruction such as a DIEP flap is that you will not need an implant. It's your own tissue. It provides a nice soft supple breast and your tissue is yours to keep for life. There is no concerns regarding rejection, scar tissue formation because it's your own natural tissue.

How is Tissue Used for Breast Reconstruction?

Doctor Bob Basu discusses the use of your own tissue in Breast Reconstruction.