There are many options available in postmastectomy reconstruction. Dr. Barrera will be happy to go over them with you to decide which will be the best for you. Some of the common techniques are as follows:

Skin expansion. The most common technique combines skin expansion and the subsequent insertion of an implant.

Following mastectomy, a balloon expander is inserted beneath your skin and chest muscle. Through a tiny valve mechanism buried beneath the skin, a salt-water solution will be periodically injected to gradually fill the expander over several weeks or months.

After the skin over the breast area has stretched enough, the expander may be removed in a second operation and a more permanent implant will be inserted. Some expanders are designed to be left in place as the final implant. The nipple and the dark skin surrounding it, called the areola, are reconstructed in a subsequent procedure.

Some patients do not require preliminary tissue expansion before receiving an implant. For these women, the surgeon will proceed with inserting an implant as the first step.

Flap reconstruction. An alternative approach to implant reconstruction involves creation of a skin flap using tissue taken from other parts of the body, such as the back, abdomen, or buttocks.

In one type of flap surgery, the tissue remains attached to its original site, retaining its blood supply. The flap, consisting of the skin, fat, and muscle with its blood supply, are tunneled beneath the skin to the chest, creating a pocket for an implant or, in some cases, creating the breast mound itself, without need for an implant.

Page 2

Back to Procedures