02/13/2021
SWIPE TO SEE HOW TRANSFORMED THIS FAILED RECONSTRUCTION ✨✨✨
This patient is an absolute sweetheart 💕 From the day I met her, I was honored to be her surgeon. She originally had subpectoral implant reconstruction after mastectomies (by another surgeon). Unfortunately, this left her with
🦠recurrent infections
💢capsular contracture
⚖️ Asymmetry
😰Chronic pain
She was miserable - chronic pain in her chest and shoulder, tight and hard implants, and desperately wanting to avoid losing her reconstruction or needing a latissimus flap. She came to see the right surgeon! I reserve using the back muscle as a salvage operation. With the latissimus flap you need an implant. In a situation where the implant keeps getting infected, the BEST option is to get rid of it completely. Plus, why put a scar on the back when we can do a low scar on the belly and get rid of extra belly fat similar to a tummy tuck?? Here’s what I did for this specific case:
1. I got rid of her implants that were hard and tight.
2. I put her pectoralis muscle back down on her chest wall where it belongs and repaired the muscle on both sides.
3. I replaced her implants with DIEP flaps. Her belly was the perfect size to match her breast volume. All natural-therefore no worry for recurrent infections or capsular contracture. Better yet, no ghastly scar across her back or chronic pain from moving the muscle of her back. Spoiler alert: She LOVES her new flat abdomen with a low scar that’s hidden.
4. I performed a breast lift to reshape the breast and reposition the ni**le. Fun fact: this is not possible with implants ... it takes a flap to allow this type of lift after a mastectomy.
Implant reconstruction is prone to certain complications that just don’t happen with DIEP flaps. If you have issues with your implants don’t assume you have to just “deal with it”, or that a latissimus flap is your only option. It’s not. If someone tells you that, find a better plastic surgeon.
*Permission obtained from surgeon for content.
