Latissimus Flap Expander
Conveniently located to serve St. Louis, Missouri
Jump To:
Candidates for this procedure include patients who have already had a mastectomy. In this procedure, the latissimus muscle along with a strip of skin is pivoted and transferred from the back into the breast. A temporary tissue expander is placed between the latissimus muscle and the chest muscle. A horizontal scar in the bra line will be concealed by a bra. The skin from the back replaces missing skin on the breast from the mastectomy and gets stretched during the expansion process. If a skin sparing mastectomy is being done, an implant can be placed underneath the muscle at the time of mastectomy for a one – stage reconstruction (latissimus with implant).
The tissue expander is inflated in the office regularly after surgery to the desired size. A second stage operation is done after this size has been achieved to replace the tissue expander with a permanent saline or silicone implant. The pocket around the expander is modified at the time of surgery to optimize the aesthetic result.
Before & After Gallery
View before-and-after pictures of real patients of Cabbabe Plastic Surgery
A breast lift or breast reduction may be needed on the other breast in order to improve symmetry A new nipple can be made and areolar tattooing can be done if desired in the case of mastectomy.
Dr. Cabbabe incorporates his experience with reconstructive and cosmetic surgery of the breast to give his patients the best results possible to meet their desires. He is an expert in cosmetic, reconstructive and minimally invasive breast surgery. During your consultation, Dr. Cabbabe will carefully examine you and will make recommendations in order to help you achieve your desired result.
We believe that patients, their desires, and anatomy are all unique. Dr. Cabbabe believes that the key to a successful surgery is proper planning and discussion with the patient about their goals. Therefore, Dr. Cabbabe evaluates each patient and creates a customized surgical plan for all of his patients to meet their expectations. To schedule a consultation, call us at (314) 842−5885 or complete the contact us form.
Good candidates for this surgery are women who have had a mastectomy and radiation. Also, women who had a previous tissue expander reconstruction which failed may be candidates.
Preparing for Surgery
Dr. Cabbabe will ask that you refrain from taking any aspirin, plavix, Coumadin or any other type of blood thinner. If you are taking chemotherapy, this may need to be finished or held prior to surgery.
Your Latissimus Flap Expander will be performed in a hospital or surgery center in St. Louis, MO.
Recovery
You will be admitted to the hospital for one to two nights. Pain medication and antibiotics will be prescribed. There may be some numbness on the breast and back which improve with time. Most patients are able to shower within 24 hours. A drain will be placed inside the breast and one or two in the back and removed in the office.
Types of Reconstruction:
- Fat Grafting
- Oncoplastic Breast Reconstruction (one – stage)
- Tissue Expander – Implant (two – stage)
- Tissue Expander – Implant with Acellular Dermis (two –stage)
- Implant with Acellular Dermis (one-stage)
- Latissimus Flap (one – stage)
- Latissimus Flap with Expander – Implant (two – stage)
- Latissimus Flap with Implant (one-stage)
- Conventional TRAM (one – stage)
- Free Muscle – Sparing TRAM (one –stage)
- DIEP Flap (one – stage)
- SIEA Flap (one – stage)
- SGAP/LGAP (one – stage)
- Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation
- Breast Implant Reconstruction (One-stage)
- Breast Implant Revision Surgery
- Breast Tissue Expander – Implant Reconstruction (2-stage)
- Latissimus Flap Breast Reconstruction
- Latissimus Flap Breast Reconstruction with Implant (1-stage)
- Latissimus Flap with Implant Breast Reconstruction (2-stage)
- Transverse Upper Gracilis (TUG) Flap Breast Reconstruction