Immediate Breast Reconstruction with Tissue Expander
Conveniently located to serve the areas of Algonquin, IL
Unfortunately, 1 in 8 women is at risk for breast cancer during their lifetime. You have different options for breast reconstruction. Immediate breast reconstruction is done at the time of the mastectomy. Delayed reconstruction is performed anytime after the mastectomy.
The most common immediate breast reconstruction is staged reconstruction with tissue expander and implant.
A tissue expander is like a deflated balloon. It is filled with saline during your clinic visits to the size you want and your chest wall and skin accommodate.
Contents
About Breast Reconstruction
Surgery is performed in the hospital operating room under general anesthesia. You may be discharged after surgery or stay overnight. You will receive a nerve block from anesthesia before the surgery and Dr. Dolen will also inject local anesthetic around the nerves during surgery.
After the mastectomy is completed, Dr. Dolen comes to the room and places the tissue expander on top of your pectoralis major muscle. It is called “prepectoral reconstruction”. The advantages of prepectoral tissue expander placement are less pain and almost no animation deformity (unusual movement of breast/implant with arm movement).
Dr. Dolen may also use an acellularized dermal matrix (ADM) like a sling to hold the tissue expander in place and provide thickness to the mastectomy flap. ADM is a human tissue from which all of the living cells and DNA has been removed. If you have any objection to the use of human tissue, please let Dr. Dolen know.
- You will have 1 drain per breast and they are usually removed within 2-3 weeks. We will provide you with detailed instructions about drain care.
- Your incisions will be covered with absorbable sutures. Therefore no suture removal is needed. Incisions will be dressed with surgical glue and tape. Therefore you won’t need any dressing change at home.
- We will put you in a surgical bra that you will use for 1 month.
- You will get detailed instructions for post-operative care.
Benefits
It was shown immensely in plastic surgery and psychiatry literature that breast reconstruction increases satisfaction, and helps patients to feel complete and feminine.
Candidates
Any woman undergoing mastectomy is a candidate for breast reconstruction. Not everybody may be a candidate for immediate breast reconstruction but those patients may benefit from delayed reconstruction.
Personal Consultation
Dr. Dolen will go over all treatment options and will help you decide best option for your body and for your general health during an in-person clinic visit.
Preparation
- We will give you detailed instructions to prepare you for surgery.
- We want you to start drinking protein shakes and taking multivitamins before surgery as soon as your surgery date is set.
- We don’t want you to drink any herbal teas within 1 week before surgery.
- You need to stop using blood thinners before surgery. Exact date will be discussed by your PCP, cardiologist or neurologist.
- Do not use ibuprofen or aspirin within 1 week before surgery.
Recovery & Results
It takes approximately 2-4 weeks for your surgical site to heal. For 1 month we don’t want you to do any heavy exercises. You can only walk as an exercise.
- You will use the provided surgical bra for 1 month.
- Dr. Dolen will see you weekly to ensure good healing.
- Usually 2 weeks after surgery, we will start to fill your tissue expander.
- Depending on the volume of your expander it may take 3-6 weeks to fully expand.
Cost of Breast Reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is covered by insurance, you may be responsible for the deductible.