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Breast Reconstruction Using Tissue "Expanders"
Improves Results for Breast Cancer Survivors, Study Shows
WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 1998 -- Women considering breast reconstruction following mastectomies for breast cancer expressed strong satisfaction with a novel approach in surgery, reports a researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center in the January 1998 edition of the journal, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
In a study among 171 patients tracked over seven years, Dr. Scott L. Spear, chief, division of plastic surgery, found that 98 percent of a subgroup of women who had immediate breast reconstruction using "tissue expanders" and anatomically shaped saline-filled breast implants were satisfied with their appearance following reconstruction. The procedure posed fewer health problems to women and delivered greater cost-effectiveness than immediate reconstruction with breast implants alone.
The technique involved two-stage breast reconstruction, with immediate placement of tissue expanders at the time of the mastectomy followed by an anatomic prosthetic breast implant inserted later, after chemotherapy and radiation. The approach contrasts with reconstruction methods that use tissue from another site on the body, thus minimizing health complications because surgery is limited only to the breast area. Also, there were fewer irreversible consequences, less scarring, and none of the trauma related to using tissue from another part of the body.
Breast reconstructions using tissue expanders in the study were shorter and hospital stays were reduced, on average, by one-to-three days, because the procedures were less invasive.
"Success in breast reconstruction depends on technique, device and surgeon," writes Spear, who is also a member of the Breast Cancer Program at Lombardi Cancer Center. "This study tells us that the combination we used provides a promising alternative in reconstructive options for mastectomy patients."
Spear also commented that the selection of patients for breast reconstruction depended on medical and anatomical suitability, follow-up radiation, and chemotherapy, the condition of muscle and skin for closure over devices, and the patient's goals, energy, motivation and lifestyle.
Georgetown University Medical Center comprises the Georgetown University Hospital, the Schools of Nursing and Medicine, physician health care practices, several suburban satellites, and the Lombardi Cancer Center, which is one of 31 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute.
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