Breast Reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is a surgical procedure that recreates a breast that has been removed or deformed due to cancer or disease. The goal is to create a natural appearing breast, even enhancing the appearance of the unaffected breast.
Candidates include women who have had or will have a mastectomy, or patients with under- developed breasts due to a congenital disease, like Poland’s syndrome. Breast reconstruction can be performed at the same time as the mastectomy or months to years later.
Several procedures exist, and the procedure you and Dr Sholar choose will depend on a variety of factors. In general, there are 2 categories of breast reconstruction: those procedures that use a silicone implant to recreate a breast (implant reconstruction) or those that use muscle, fat and skin from the patient’s own body to recreate a breast (autologous reconstruction). After the reconstructed breast has healed, a second procedure to create a nipple will be needed. An areola is later tattooed here in the office to complete the reconstruction.
Depending on the method used, this procedure may be done on an outpatient basis or may require an inpatient hospitalization. The patient can expect to be hospitalized overnight (in the case of an immediate implant reconstruction) or up to 5 days (in the case of (autologous reconstruction). Every patient’s progress may differ. The nipple reconstruction is performed as an outpatient under local anesthetic and takes about an hour.
