Breast reconstruction is an increasingly efficient plastic, medical and reconstructive surgery procedure to preserve the femininity of the patient who has undergone mastectomy.
Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers among Western women. So much so that the Spanish Society of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery (SEPRE) estimates that about 1 in 11 women is at risk of suffering from it. The treatment of cancer can be quadrantectomy, but it can also involve the removal of the breast or mastectomy for its control or cure. Therefore, more and more women are determined to restore that part of their body, and their femininity, after removal, through breast reconstruction.
Breast reconstruction When can I reconstruct my breasts?
Most women who have had a mastectomy can have their breasts repaired. And they can choose when and how. The most common method of breast reconstruction is immediate breast reconstruction, right after surgery. The patient is spared a second operation, and can avoid the emotional damage of being without one or both breasts. However, there are women who prefer to undergo reconstructive surgery some time after the mastectomy and oncological treatments, deferred. This option gives the woman time to make the decision and to inform herself of the various reconstructive options.
Types of breast reconstruction, choose the technique that best suits you.
As for the techniques, medical advances allow the doctor to advise the best option and the patient to choose the one she feels most comfortable with. The most common, using breast prostheses, is also the quickest and simplest. The professionals can perform it all at once, with a definitive prosthesis. But also in two surgical stages, progressively dilating the skin by means of a temporary expander, and then placing the prosthesis.
Another more complex possibility, but for many patients more natural, is the use of their own tissue to reconstruct the breast. The so-called ‘flaps’ usually come from the stomach, the back, and other areas of the woman’s body. However, intervention using both techniques, or combined techniques, is also possible. In this case, the tissues themselves would serve to provide skin and muscle coverage, while the implant would serve to reintegrate the volume.
Managing breast reconstruction
Breast reconstruction directly involves the psychology and emotional quality of life of the woman. It is necessary that all patients who have undergone a mastectomy, or who are going to undergo it, have information to be able to reconstruct their body in the way that best suits their needs.
It is an operation that requires efficiency, speed and good coordination between various specialists. Fortunately, medical advances guarantee excellent results, and also an affordable service for the patient. This is why private management is offered, as well as through insurance companies, with the quality of care of private medicine.