Simultaneous reconstructive surgery for radical mastectomy

Excerpt

Breast reconstruction following radical mastectomy, if desired, is considered vital to the patient's rehabilitation and is an intrinsic part of her breast cancer treatment. Immediate reconstruction – especially immediate reconstruction using autologous tissues – has become more established since the introduction of the skin-sparing mastectomy in the early 1990s. Now, as the more current therapeutic armamentarium has been expanded to feature preoperative tumor shrinking with chemotherapy, accelerated or partial breast radiotherapy, and, in particular, the increased use of breast conservation surgery for larger tumors, immediate breast reconstruction techniques have also further evolved to address the radical mastectomy defect with newer micro-surgical techniques and autologous flap tissues, such as the IGAP, gracilis [1], and SIEA flaps, as well as improved silicone and anatomic saline implant designs [2] with post-operative adjustment capabilities designed to facilitate longer term symmetrical breast reconstruction outcomes. …