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After a mastectomy, which is removal of the entire breast because of cancer or some other medical necessity, there remains just skin and a flat surface. As the patient who has already undergone trauma due to the disease, will also feel conscious of her appearance after the surgery, she may want to go in for breast reconstruction. Some women lose self-confidence and they can undergo this procedure to regain it. Reconstructive surgery and a qualified surgeon can do it.
The patient has to be physically and mentally prepared for it, talk to the surgeon and find out the entire details of the procedure. Once she is satisfied she can decide to go ahead and start the procedure. If the surgeon has to reconstruct the entire breast, he first has to use a tissue expander to grow more skin and only then can he reconstruct the breast. The tissue expander will increase the skin surface so that the implant can later be inserted and the breast can regain its original contour and shape and size.
The balloon like tissue expander is inserted under the chest muscle. This tissue expander has a metal or plastic plug, valve or coil called the port. It is better to have a plastic port instead of a metal one as it would be more comfortable and less problematic if x rays or radiation has to be done. The port allows the surgeon to add increasing amounts of saline or silica gel over a period of six months or so, without going in for an extra surgery. Saline can be injected through the valve in growing volumes till the desired expansion is reached.
The skin and soft tissue will grow and expand and soon reach the proportion the patient and the doctor wants. One has to be very careful and not let the tissue expand too much or too little. If it is too much, the reconstructed breast will be uncomfortable and occasionally flatten part of the rib cage. Once the skin and tissues have expanded and the other treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are over, the expander can be removed and a permanent implant will be put in its place. The breast tissue expander acts like a catalyst to make the body grow more skin. Often the surgeon may use a permanent expander, which can continue as the implant. The expander is filled with the desired amount of saline or silica gel and the port will be removed without any extra surgery. |
