Breast reconstruction with the patient’s own tissue is the most durable and harmonious technique with the other breast after breast cancer treatment.
Dr. Carmen Iglesias, surgeon of the Department of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Hospital Nuestra Señora del Rosario tells us that breast reconstruction using the patient’s own tissues (autologous reconstruction) has many possible techniques depending on the location of the largest amount of fat.
There is a difference between procedures that take tissues from the abdomen (DIEP), the gluteal region (SGAP or IGAP) or the inner thighs (PAP). The tissue expander is an implant with the capacity to dilate the skin and to be able to place a breast prosthesis in a second intervention. Both surgeries are performed under general anesthesia and must be separated between three and six months, depending on the time needed to achieve adequate breast volume.
Like each of the processes in breast cancer, reconstruction is also an individualized, personalized fact, in which the woman can choose between several techniques. When the tumor can be removed keeping part of it, plastic surgeons collaborate with oncologists to achieve an adequate shape of it. This procedure is known as oncoplastic surgery. If the breast must be completely removed, the best time for reconstruction is during the same surgery as the excision, according to the surgeon.
Finally, the doctor reminds us that the tissue most frequently used is the abdominal tissue, since the color of the skin, its texture and the characteristics of the fat are the most similar to those of the breast. To achieve a better result, highly specialized microsurgical techniques are used, since no muscle is injured and it is an aesthetic benefit for the abdomen, because its result is that of an aesthetic abdominal lipectomy (abdominoplasty).