Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (Oncoplastic Breast Surgery)
The history of medicine clearly shows that with the advancement of science, breast surgery is becoming less invasive and amputatory. We went from the old dramatic radical mastectomies to modified radical mastectomies and from there to quadridectomies and then to breast augmentations. This means that today, in most women, we remove only the tumour, within clear margins, and the rest of the breast and its skin are left intact, while the oncological outcome is just as good.
But how can we preserve the shape of the breast if a portion of it is removed? The gap resulting from the removal of the tumor must be filled and the breast reconstructed. A good aesthetic result requires a beautiful breast shape. The difficulty is that in order to practice oncoplastic surgery, very specialized training of the surgeon is necessary, both in Breast Oncological Surgery and in Breast Plastic Surgery techniques.
There are generally two groups of techniques to cover the tissue deficit:
- Volume Displacement Mammoplasty (Volume Displacement Mammoplasty)
- Volume Replacement Techniques (Volume Replacement Techniques)
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“Volume Displacement Techniques refer to the displacement of part of the remaining breast and the contemporary reconstruction of the shape to achieve optimal breast shape and appearance”
- Therapeutic Breast Reduction Surgeries: Commonly performed on very large, drooping breasts, so after reduction we have a smaller breast with a more beautiful shape than before.
- Therapeutic breast lift: Applied to sagging breasts, with breast lift and excellent aesthetic result after surgery.
“Volume Replacement techniques rely on the transfer of tissue outside the breast to fill the void”
There are many such techniques, more or less complex, which give very good aesthetic results on the reconstructed breast. However, these have the disadvantage that the area from which the tissue is taken is also injured, which the woman has to accept.
“For the application of Oncoplasty Surgery there is another requirement, preoperative diagnosis and proper investigation”
This is achieved by preoperative cut needle biopsy under ultrasound guidance. We get histological confirmation of the problem, we also do the necessary staging tests and have a complete picture of the situation. Then only the surgeon can make, taking into account the woman’s wishes, the design of the Oncoplastic Intervention that best suits her!
Thankfully gone are the days when women were at the mercy of the unspecialized “knife” at the altar of cancer. Things have changed and now survival is excellent, after proper treatment of the disease. With a proper surgery and a good cosmetic result, the woman will not only survive, but will live with confidence, smile and remain a “Woman”.