If you are thinking about having breast reconstruction, there are numerous options available to you. One of these is known as the DIEP I flap. While not every patient is a good candidate, there are plenty of advantages to having this plastic surgery procedure.
The DIEP I flap (deep inferior epigastric perforator) is a tissue flap operation that involves skin and fat removal from the stomach, which is used to create a new breast following a mastectomy. This operation is a type of autologous reconstruction, which is to say, a surgical procedure that uses the patient's own living tissues. The reconstructed breast will not be exactly the same as your natural anatomy, but the plastic surgeon will do his best to make it as indistinguishable as possible. An additional procedure will need to be done to create a new nipple and areola.
The plastic surgeon who will be doing your surgery will discuss with you at length what the DIEP I flap method will consist of. Fatty tissue and skin will be extracted from your tummy region and transplanted on your chest. Your abdominal muscle will remain intact. It will not be cut into or extracted in any way. The majority of female patients have a sufficient amount of tissue on their stomach to allow for the creation of a reconstructed breast. If this is not the case, an implant can be positioned under the tissue flap to create the size that is desired.
The fat and skin that is extracted from the stomach for this technique is similar in nature to the operation that takes place when a tummy tuck is performed. The difference though is that when the flap procedure is done, a vein and artery must be transported from the tissue flap to the chest region in order that the living tissue, upon transplantation, will receive a regular supply of blood.
There are good and bad points about having this operation after a mastectomy. If you were to have a TRAM flap to create a new breast, muscle would need to be moved. When it comes to this surgical procedure, muscle is left alone. There is practically no risk that an abdominal hernia will occur as a result of this operation. The recuperation period following a DIEP I flap is faster than for a TRAM flap, and there is a lesser degree of pain involved. The failure rate for this reconstructive procedure is less than one percent.
The DIEP I flap operation takes more time to complete than the TRAM flap, which is one of its disadvantages. You will be left with two scars following the operation, because two areas of the body will be operated upon. If the procedure does not work, which is rare, the tissue flap may perish and have to be taken away from the body. If the tissue does not survive, a new reconstructive procedure cannot be undertaken for a period of at least six months to a year.
A DIEP I flap reconstruction offers many advantages. Talk to a doctor about your candidacy for this procedure: http://www.breastcenter.com.