Partial breast reconstruction
Restore breast symmetry after winning the battle
If you are already cured from breast cancer, you have won the battle. Congratulations. The hard part is over and life is smiling at you. If the medical team decided to keep a large part of your native breast and only remove the tumour, even better. Breast-conservative surgery combined with postoperative radiotherapy has become the preferred locoregional treatment for patients with early-stage breast cancer. Moreover, breast-sparing surgery has a lot of psychological advantages and usually has a faster recovery time. The resulting asymmetry that may have developed between both breasts can be improved through a so called “partial breast reconstruction”.
The essentials
Partial breast reconstruction involves restoration of the breast shape, contour and volume after breast-sparing surgery. At the same time, we aim to regain symmetry between both breasts.
The surgery combines advanced techniques in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery to achieve harmonious, natural and symmetrical breasts.
Partial breast reconstruction is possible immediately at the time of tumour removal or in a secondary stage after completion of the radiotherapy.
In most cases, your own breast tissue can be used to recreate a normal breast shape and size. Sometimes, local tissue is needed and/or fat injections.
A delayed partial breast reconstruction can be performed in both hospitals. An immediate breast reconstruction is always performed at the University Hospital Brussels.
Consider a downtime of 2 weeks with easy wound care. Avoid physical activity for 6 weeks.
Respect the recovery time well and you will profit from the transformation for the rest of your life.
What is a partial breast reconstruction ?
In order to explain this to you as clear as possible, we need to stage two different scenario’s:
You already underwent breast-sparing surgery and radiotherapy but have a deformity of the operated breast and/or an asymmetry with the other breast. You are a good candidate for a delayed partial breast reconstruction.
You are diagnosed with a breast tumour that can be removed through breast-sparing surgery. You are a good candidate for an immediate partial breast reconstruction.
Delayed partial breast reconstruction
When you already underwent breast sparing surgery, the surgeon removed a part of your breast containing the cancer cells + some extra tissue around it (as a safety zone). In most cases, you also received a few sessions of radiotherapy to further treat the tumour bed. This is all necessary to successfully treat the cancer, so the correct steps have been taken.
However, there is a realistic chance that you now have a breast asymmetry. The radiation therapy that was given on the operated zone resulted in a depression of that area. The whole breast may have shrunk as well due to the radiation therapy. So you may find yourself in the situation where your operated breast feels firmer, is smaller than the other side, with a depressed scar.
With a “delayed” partial breast reconstruction, I will use a combination of surgical techniques to restore a more natural, supple breast shape and bring back the symmetry between both breasts. Depending on the current situation, this may involve one or a combination of the following procedures:
Scar release to improve the breast contour
Fat injections into the operated zone to fill up the defect and smoothen out the irregularities
Fat injections into the whole breast to improve the breast smoothness and gain some volume
Transposing local tissues to fill up the defect after tumor removal and to restore a more harmonious breast shape and contour
Reducing the other breast (if necessary) to recreate breast symmetry
I was privileged enough to receive a personal training from Prof. Dr. Moustapha Hamdi, a world-renowned plastic surgeon and a pioneer in total and partial breast reconstruction. Over the years, I learned a variety of essential surgical techniques to treat post-tumourectomy deformities. The surgical procedures I have listed above are a summary of the most common techniques that can be used. Of course it all depends on the clinical investigation. On top of these surgical techniques, there are a lot of surgical tricks and tweaks that can be used to create more harmonious breasts with better symmetry. These are very patient-dependent and I sometimes decide to use certain techniques during surgery, depending on the situation. To get the best results, I apply a very patient-tailored approach for this type of surgery as everybody has a different story and current clinical situation.
During the consultation, I will explain to you the procedure in more detail, with pictures and photographs, as well as which scars to expect and the post-operative care that will be needed. You can expect a down time of 2 weeks, with light dressings.
Immediate partial breast reconstruction
I work at the University Hospital in Brussels, which is world-renowned for aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery. As plastic surgeons, we often work together with breast surgeons to give patients the best treatment possible. We organise a weekly meeting to discuss all women who suffer from breast cancer and put our heads together to determine the best treatment. By combining our expertise, we are able to offer very elegant and effective surgical options for women diagnosed with breast cancer. The term “onco-plastic surgery” involves state-of-the-art surgical procedures during which the breast tumour is excised (= the onco part) and the defect is immediately reconstructed with your own tissue (= the plastic part). The success of onco-plastic surgery relies on the safe oncological resection of the breast tumour with wide margins and immediate breast reshaping, with consideration of tumour location, complete tumour resection, initial breast size and breast shape. In addition, we sometimes perform an immediate symmetrisation of the other breast as well. So this is a true all-in-one procedure that gives you several benefits:
One surgery to perform both the resection and reconstruction
The scars are most of the time identical to a classic breast reduction or breast lift
The defect is immediately reconstructed, which results in better surgical and aesthetic outcomes after the radiotherapy
It allows a wider resection of the tumour with safe margins, together with the advantages of an immediate breast reconstruction
If there would be a big asymmetry between both breast, we immediately perform a symmetrisation of the other side so your bras and clothes fit better
By performing the reconstruction at the same time, you get the psychological benefit of not experiencing a period of asymmetry between both breasts
You avoid the look of an “operated breast”
Depending on the tumour size and location, different design patterns and surgical techniques will be applied. The ultimate goal of this type of surgery is to achieve good oncological outcomes in combination with good aesthetic and long-lasting results. During the consultation, I will explain to you the procedure in more detail, with pictures and photographs, as well as which scars to expect and the post-operative care that will be needed. You can expect a down time of 2 weeks, with light dressings.
If you previously underwent breast-conservative surgery or you are planned for the surgery in one of the hospitals I work, I recommend you to plan a consultation so we can set up an operative plan together in order to give you the best surgical and oncological outcome.
