Information for Women - Breast Reconstruction

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Breast Reconstruction

This section will take a look at the subject of Breast Reconstruction. Other topics that contain information for women can be found further down the page.

Breast reconstruction can be done either at the time of the mastectomy (immediate reconstruction) or the surgery can be delayed for months or years (delayed reconstruction) depending on your preference and treatment options.

Breast reconstruction is a surgical method for recreating a breast that was lost due to breast cancer, trauma or other disease. Breast reconstruction can be achieved with: a tissue expander and breast implant (called expander assisted breast reconstruction), a breast implant alone, autologous surgical procedures which use your own body tissues, or a combination of autologous tissue and breast implants.

Plastic surgery to rebuild a breast, usually done after a mastectomy (removal of the breast) has been performed to treat cancer. Mastectomy involves the removal of breast tissue, varying amounts of skin, and, invariably, the nipple-areola complex. Breast reconstruction aims to restore these attributes and uses the opposite breast as an aesthetic reference point.

With advances in breast reconstruction surgery, more than one-third of women undergoing breast removal have their breast(s) rebuilt. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2004 more than 62,930 women had breast reconstruction.

One decision is whether to have surgery for breast reconstruction at all.

Autogenous tissue reconstruction is achieved with TRAM flaps, latissimus dorsi flaps, flap implant combinations and completed by nipple areolar reconstruction, prostheses and tattooing.

Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy can improve your appearance and renew your self-confidence. Reconstructions are commonly done after one or both breasts are removed as a treatment for breast cancer. While 80 percent of women who undergo breast implant surgery do so for cosmetic reasons, some choose implants because they lost one or both breasts to disease or injury. When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, her physicians may recommend that she undergo a mastectomy, or removal of the breast, to remove the cells that caused her breast cancer.

Some plastic surgeons believe breast reconstruction should not be performed at all in this population.

Cancer of the breast is one of the more common cancers in women.

Frequently, reconstruction is possible immediately following breast removal (mastectomy), so the patient wakes up with a breast mound already in place, having been spared the experience of seeing herself with no breast at all.

Most breast reconstruction involves a series of procedures that occur over time. Many surgeons recommend an additional operation to enlarge, reduce, or lift the natural breast to match the reconstructed breast.

Cancer can recur in the skin or any remaining breast tissue at areas of breast reconstruction. If you have a tissue flap reconstruction, you may need to continue mammograms on both breasts.

Although breast reconstruction is an important component of breast cancer treatment and recovery, few insurance plans pay for it. One study found that 84 percent of patients were denied insurance coverage for reconstruction of the removed breast. California law already requires coverage of breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.

Most insurance providers cover the cost of breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Breast reconstruction immediately after mastectomy generally requires a longer recovery period than does delayed reconstruction surgery.

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Breast Reconstruction