Why is it performed?
In Spain, about 24,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year, with a survival rate of over 80%, so it is a fundamental part of the treatment to give a more natural appearance to the breast of the woman affected by the disease.
Normally, breast reconstruction is carried out if the breast has had to be removed as a result of cancer. The reconstruction is not incompatible with a subsequent cancer treatment and also prevents the patient from having to have her breast amputated. For this reason, we try to perform immediate reconstruction to prepare the patient psychologically, so that she can better face the treatments that may involve this type of pathology.
Although reconstruction cannot perfect what a lost breast is, in general, the results we obtain are quite satisfactory.
How is breast reconstruction performed?
There are two options: the first one is called immediate reconstruction, that is to say, at the moment the breast cancer is diagnosed and the mastectomy has to be performed, the reconstruction is performed in the same surgical act. This first type can be performed with different techniques, one of them is the placement of an expander -a kind of empty balloon-, which we will fill it later with physiological serum until we get a volume similar to the contralateral breast. In some cases, the expander can then be replaced by a teardrop-shaped prosthesis to give it a definitive shape. Another technique is to use tissue taken from another part of the body -such as the back or abdomen-.
In the Unit we have located in the Hospital Nuestra Señora del Rosario, we normally try to perform this type of immediate reconstruction, with the collaboration of surgeons and gynecologists, for an integral treatment in a single intervention.
If at first the immediate reconstruction could not be performed for some reason, after a few months it could be carried out, then called deferred reconstruction. This second option can also be performed by any of the techniques described above.
Are the risks of the intervention very high?
In principle, the risks are not very high, without forgetting that they are technically complex interventions. The possible complications that may arise would logically probably require a reoperation.
After the operation, how soon can the patient go home?
Once the mastectomy and reconstruction have been performed, the patient is generally admitted to the hospital for approximately 72 hours.
For the completion of the complete treatment, including the reconstruction of the nipple-areola complex, a period of 3 to 6 months is usually required.