J Korean Breast Cancer Soc.  1998 Jun;1(1):13-23. 10.4048/jkbcs.1998.1.1.13.

Variety of Immediate Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy for Breast Cancer

• Choi BC
• Woo SH
• Jeong JH
• Seul JH
• Lee SJ

• KMID: 2173690
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jkbcs.1998.1.1.13

Abstract

Breast cancer of women is the most common major cancer in Caucasian. and it is steadily increasing in Korean. The main causes are westernized dietary habit and medication of oral contraceptives. A women's breasts are the symbol of her femininity and loss of a breast can be a major impairment to her body image and self-confidence. This loss can have devastating sequelae, causing a marked impact on her emotional stability and social adjustment. When the loss of a breast is the result of her local treatment of breast cancer, she mast not only confront the reality of the tumor prognosis but also has to face the mastectomy deformity. Immediate breast reconstruction following mastectomy of breast cancer are being done more often nowadays in Korea. The advantages of immediate breast reconstruction are, avoiding the stress of breast loss, reduced hospitalization and medical cost and easy reconstruction without any underlying scar tissue. The approach was multidisciplinary with involvement of oncologists, general surgeons, and plastic surgeons. Various reconstructive methods were used, and the operations were adjusted for each patient. This study included 15 female patients, treated at Yeungnam University Hospital between January, 1996 and November, 1996. The mean age of the patient was 38.5 years, and most of the tumors were stage 0 to 2 at the time of the operation. One breast prosthesis, two tissue expander with breast prosthesis, one latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap, eleven transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flaps (conventional TRAM flap, bipedicle TRAM flap, super-charging TRAM flap, turbo-charging TRAM flap, free TRAM flap) were used for reconstruction. There were 5 postoperative complications; partial flap necrosis, hematoma, incisional hernia, seroma, fat necrosis, epigastric fullness. Our experiences of 15 cases of immediate breast reconstruction were presented with relatively short-term follow-up.

Keyword

Immediate breast reconstruction; TRAM(transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous)

MeSH Terms

Body Image
Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Cicatrix
Congenital Abnormalities
Contraceptives, Oral
Fat Necrosis
Female
Femininity
Follow-Up Studies
Food Habits
Free Tissue Flaps
Hematoma
Hernia
Hospitalization
Humans
Korea
Mammaplasty*
Mastectomy*
Myocutaneous Flap
Necrosis
Postoperative Complications
Prognosis
Prostheses and Implants
Rectus Abdominis
Seroma
Social Adjustment
Superficial Back Muscles
Tissue Expansion Devices
Contraceptives, Oral