Mastopexy, breast lift is one of the surgeries that require more attention in cosmetic surgery. Many patients come for consultation requiring diagnosis and treatment. Therefore it is very important to evaluate the patient before undertaking the surgery, since a bad evaluation can have as a consequence a bad result. Thus, in the general anamnesis will be assessed:
– The patient’s personal and family medical history, allergies, pregnancies, breastfeeding and possible breast diseases. It is also very important to assess the type of skin: if it is thin, thick, if it has stretch marks and the degree of flaccidity.
– The mammary gland should also be assessed: whether it has a dense, elastic structure or is rather fatty, as well as studying the placement and shape of the areolae and nipple.
– No less important is to study the shape or tuberosity and the degree of ptosis of the breast.
– The excess skin should also be measured, both vertically and horizontally, since a vertical scar will not always be necessary.
Importance of the preoperative and mistakes to avoid in a mastopexy
Taking into account all the previous elements, it is important to know what the patient wants: more volume, projection, more or less naturalness, as well as to know if she wants prosthesis or not, something very important.
Thus, there are three main mistakes to avoid in a mastopexy:
1. Believing that if the breast has a ptosis aspect, a vertical scar must always be made. It is the degree of ptosis, the quality of the skin and, above all, the position of the mammary sulcus, which will determine whether a vertical scar should be made or not. In many cases we can avoid the vertical scar and solve the mastopexy only with a periareolar scar.
2. Placing a prosthesis with too much weight will produce a ptosis again in a short time. Many specialists in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery believe that the more prosthesis volume, the more breast elevation we will produce, when it is the opposite.
3. Be careful with the periareolar scar. If it looks bad, the whole result of the surgery may be altered. That is why internal reinforcement sutures are recommended, to prevent the skin from having to bear the tension of the scarring.
Although it is something to be chosen by the surgeon together with the patient’s objectives, it is preferable to have the surgery in a single time, and currently the smooth round prosthesis. Only in some cases of thinness will microtextured anatomical prostheses be placed.