Breast Reconstruction Techniques

Breast reconstruction helps woman feel and look their best after having a mastectomy, children or even different size breasts. As in any surgery there are different techniques that can help the patient look their best and breast reconstruction is not the exception. By using the different breast reconstruction techniques doctors can reconstruct woman's breasts to look real.

What is Breast Reconstruction?

Breast reconstruction is a procedure that helps woman reshape or implants breasts for woman that have lost their breast, have different size breasts or want to fix their breasts after having children.

Breast Reconstruction: The Techniques Used

Breast reconstruction has come a long way, and there are now a lot of techniques that doctors can use to make the breasts look more natural.

When you decide to have this surgery it is important to know the different kinds of techniques doctors use. After reading the different breast reconstruction techniques, you as the patient should decide what is best with you, and then discuss it with a doctor.

The different breast reconstruction techniques are:

Breast Reconstruction With The Breast Implant Technique:

The breast implant technique is the most common used technique among the doctors. There are different kinds of implants that the doctors can use. Read each technique to find which would work best for you.

There are different kind of implants, most commonly used is saline-filled implant. Saline is a silicone shell filled with salt water. Saline-filled implants are the most typical implant technique doctor's use.

Another kind of implant is silicone gel-filled implant. However, the silicone gel-filled implants are not a technique used as much because they have had some health concerns.

When it comes to implants one technique doctors use is the one-stage immediate breast reconstruction, doctors use this technique because the implants can be done the same time as a mastectomy is done.

After the surgeon removes the breast tissues, the plastic surgeon comes in and puts in the implants where the breast tissue was removed. Doctors use this breast reconstruction technique because it's just one surgery and can be done fast.

Another breast reconstruction technique that doctors use is called the two-stage reconstruction; this technique is used when the patient's skin and chest is flat and tight. The doctor has to implant a balloon under the skin and chest to help make the chest expand. With this technique the plastic surgeon will then put a tiny valve under the skin and inject salt-water solution in the balloon. Then over time the breasts expand. The skin is then stretched enough to put in the final implants. Doctors don't use this breast reconstruction technique as much because it takes longer, however sometimes this technique is absolutely necessary.

Implants are not always the best technique to use for patients. There are other techniques doctors may use.

Breast Reconstruction With The Tissue Flap Technique

In this breast reconstruction technique doctors use tissue from the stomach, back, thighs or buttocks to help rebuild the breast. This breast reconstruction technique is a little more complex.

There are many types of tissue flaps the names of these flap techniques are:

• TRAM flap (transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap)
• Latissiumus dorsi flap
• Gluteal free flap

In more detail the TRAM technique or flap is a procedure that uses the tissue from the stomach. The tissue from this area is enough to shape the breast.

There are two different techniques doctors can use within the TRAM technique.

There is the pedicle flap which leaves the flap attached to its original blood supply and it's under the skin of the breast area.

The free flap uses the skin, blood vessels, fat and stomach muscle. In this breast reconstruction technique all of the layers listed above are moved from the stomach and put into the chest to make a firm breast shape. By using the TRAM technique the breasts will reshape in a more normal way, however the patient can lose muscle feeling in their stomach. Also, with this breast reconstruction technique there will be two incisions, one on the stomach to remove the tissue and on the breast to insert the tissue.

The other kind of tissue flap technique is called the Latissimus dorsi flap; this technique uses the muscle and the skin from the upper back. This technique uses the skin, fat, muscle and blood vessels. The different layers move under the skin to the front of the chest to reshape a breast. With this breast reconstruction technique it is more common that the surgeons will do this and also add an implant to give it the more full and natural look.

The last kind of breast reconstruction technique is the Gluteal Free flap or the SGAP (superior gluteal artery perforator) this is the newest of the flaps. This technique uses the tissue from the buttocks, and the gluteal muscle. By using this technique the breasts shape look very full and more round. This option is for women who do not want to use the stomach or the back tissues. With the Gluteal free technqiue the surgeon uses the skin, fat, blood vessels and muscles from the buttocks and then they put in the breasts area.

Breast reconstruction Techniques Are All Different

Because there are no two people alike there are different techniques for the doctors to use. Each doctor will use the breast reconstruction technique best for the patient's body.

After deciding that breast reconstruction is right for you find a surgeon using our breast reconstruction surgeon locator.