Breast

Breast reconstruction using self-tissue

Even if the removal of tumour tissue from the breast is unavoidable, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire breast will be lost. Modern surgical techniques enable the diseased breast tissue to be excised whilst retaining the natural skin that covers the breast. The aesthetic plastic surgeon can then introduce self-tissue taken from the patient underneath this covering of skin, and rebuild the breast in an almost natural fashion. This procedure often paves the way to a cosmetically optimal result.

It is of central importance, that the optimal technique of breast reconstruction for the particular patient in question be determined before the tumour is excised. Ideally, the doctors treating the cancer should work together with the aesthetic plastic surgeon from the early stages of treatment, to determine the best therapeutic course for this individual patient. I am a highly specialised surgeon in this field.

Countless concrete operations, encompassing an extraordinarily wide range of surgical possibilities, have gained me a wealth of experience in these fundamental questions and surgical considerations since 2006.

Several operative procedures are available for the reconstruction of breasts using a patient’s own tissue:

  • A currently well established technique is DIEP flap reconstruction. During this procedure, skin and tissue from the layer of fat found directly beneath the skin is taken form the lower region of the patients stomach and used to rebuild the breast.
  • The predecessor to DIEP flap reconstruction is known as TRAM flap reconstruction. This somewhat older method employs muscle tissue taken from the transverse abdominals to reconstruct the breast.
  • A third important is method represented by the Latissimus dorsi technique. Here, a flap of muscle and skin taken from the back is directed through the armpit and into the region of the breast, where it will serve in the future as breast tissue.