Breast surgery that aims at recovery of natural shape and texture is often an important part of post-mastectomy rehabilitation. Mastectomy is a surgical intervention that removes mammary gland tissues in order to treat cancer or untreatable infection at site. After the patient is stabilized and healthy, cosmetic surgery provides an option to rebuild the lost tissue and thus improve one’s qualiy of life.
Contemporary cosmetic surgery offers a wide range of reconstructive techniques, including breast restoration. This field of surgery helps improve self-perception and psychological wellfare of the patient even after the most complex mastectomy operations. Doctors have at their disposal techniques for immediate reconstruction and delayed aesthetic plastic surgery.
Immediate breast reconstruction is performed during the mastectomy surgery . This allows the patient to leave the hospital practically with “new” breasts, though is often limited by the complexity of mastectomy.
In delayed reconstruction, the reconstructive surgery is performed at a certain time after mastectomy – even months or years later.
The plastic surgeon rebuilds the mammary gland based on the available tissue volume. This is why such surgery is not always able to fully satisfy the patient’s aesthetic preferences at once, as the necessary minimum tissue just may not be present.
Typically, breast reconstruction happens eventually, in stages. Initially, the deficient soft tissues are stretched to form a pocket for the endoprosthesis. To accomplish this, a special expander is inserted into the patient’s breast, which is replaced with a breast implant at the next stage (after 1.5-2 months).
In general, this surgery is very much like to the breast augmentation surgery, though extra steps and careful planning are required, as each mastectomy outcome is unique. Trust between the patient and the cosmetic surgeon is key, as this is a long term cooperation.
