Types of Breast Reconstruction

By Claire Curtis


Doctors tell over 200,000 women in the United States each year that they have breast cancer. For many women, the idea of having to remove a portion of their breast, or even the entire breast, is something they never thought they would have to deal with. Although this may all seem overwhelming emotionally, it's important to know that you do have options. There are ways to restructure the breast so that it won't be noticeable that you have had complications from breast cancer.

Having a breast implant immediately placed following mastectomy is the first option you'll have available to you during breast cancer surgery in Dallas. This procedure will involve immediately placing a silicone implant behind the pectoral muscle. They may use a permanent implant, if you have enough quality skin remaining and dependent upon the size of the implant to be in place. After a few months, assuming that the healing is going as planned, there may be another procedure in order to adjust the placement and shape of the new breast. This procedure is quick and simple, and will be used in order to assure symmetry of your new breast.

A second option when thinking about a breast reconstruction is to get a breast implant using a staged approach. This process can begin immediately following a mastectomy, or it can be delayed as to give yourself more time to analyze your options. In the staged approached, a tissue expanding device is placed along the chest wall under the pectoral muscle. This acts as a space saver in which the permanent implant will eventually be placed into. A small amount of saline is injected into the expander. After a few weeks of healing, the expansion process can start to begin where the doctor will inject more saline into the expanding device through a fill-port located in the device. This port is reached by using a needle through the skin. After several months of expansion, the female will then have an operation to exchange the expansion device for a permanent breast implant.

The TRAM flap procedure is the last type of breast reconstruction. In this procedure, tissue is excised from the stomach and transferred to the chest to be used as breast tissue. If you choose this method instead of implants, your breasts will feel more natural to you because it's made out of your own tissue and will have more symmetry. However, this form of breast reconstruction in Dallas does have its disadvantages. It leaves a scar that runs along your stomach from your left hip to your right. This procedure might also leave you feeling weak around the abdomen and you may experience some bulging or a hernia.

No matter what breast reconstruction you choose in the end, you have to make sure you get a clear comparison among all three methods by speaking with a qualified breast cancer surgeon in Dallas so that you will be comfortable with your final decision on how to go about your breast cancer surgery.




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