New technique improves cosmetic breast reconstruction in athletic cancer patients
January 09, 2016
That made the new surgery less complicated to perform, Rad says. All 12 of the patients in the study had successful breast reconstruction using the new version of the SGAP, known as the LSGAP (lateral septocutaneous perforating branches of the superior gluteal artery).
Surgeons used the new vessel in about half of the procedures, but were able to achieve a good cosmetic result in all of them, Rad says.
The operation, performed with the help of a microscope, connects small blood vessels from a flap composed of skin and fat from the love-handle region to the mammary blood vessels beneath the rib cage. When the tail of the blood vessel is longer, as in the LSGAP surgery, it is easier for the surgeon to carefully connect the two tiny tubes together.
Rad cautions that not every thin patient is a candidate for the new technique.
But in those for whom it is available, LSGAP actually improves the contour of the patient's waist and hip area, Rad says.
"If you're not a candidate for an abdominal flap and you want to use your own tissue, you're not without options," he says. "This is a refinement of previously deforming surgery."
Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions