Breast reconstruction after breast cancer: what all women should know
After completing cancer treatments, all women naturally want to restore their physical integrity.
Nevertheless, only about one in ten women has the operated breast reconstructed, even though this is possible in almost every operated breast and even though the health insurance covers all reconstructive procedures. Many women who have undergone surgery do not know this, nor are they aware of the possibilities offered by modern plastic surgery.
Breast reconstruction after breast cancer: plastic surgery can really do a lot
As a specialist in plastic, aesthetic, and reconstructive surgery, it is my task to inform those affected about the possibilities of breast reconstruction and to support them in their decision-making.
Below are some important points:
- Breast reconstruction can very often be performed simultaneously with the cancer surgery. Therefore, it is no longer necessary, as was previously common, to wait 1–2 years before reconstruction.
- Breast reconstruction can be performed by inserting silicone gel–filled implants, with the patient’s own tissue (flap procedures), or by injecting autologous fat. Autologous fat is being used increasingly often because, in most cancer surgeries, only small parts of the breast need to be removed (75%–80%), and in all these cases, fat graft reconstruction is the method of choice, as flap procedures or implants are not required for most partial removals.
- Breast reconstruction with autologous fat or the patient’s own tissue generally looks more natural and beautiful than reconstructions with implants, and the breast also feels better.
- All health insurance providers cover both the reconstruction procedure and all necessary follow-up surgeries (reconstruction of the nipple, reshaping of the healthy breast, etc.). In the case of supplementary insurance, the number of covered reconstruction procedures is currently limited to three operations.
