Breast reconstruction using your own tissue (flap reconstruction)

Breast reconstruction using your own tissue involves transferring a flap of skin, fat and sometimes muscle from another part of your body (the donor site) to your chest wall to create a breast shape. The flap is usually taken from either your back or tummy (abdomen). Some types of reconstruction use both a flap of tissue and an implant to help give the right shape, especially if a larger breast is being reconstructed.

Flap reconstruction can be used to create a new breast after a mastectomy|, or to replace breast tissue that has been taken away during a lumpectomy| (wide local excision).

This type of reconstruction may be suitable for women who:

• have had or need radiotherapy as part of their treatment
• can’t have an implant or tissue expansion because their chest skin and muscle is too tight, or because a lot of skin and muscle has been removed from the breast
• have large or droopy breasts and don’t want to make their breasts smaller
• don’t want a breast implant.

Benefits Back to top

• Gives a more natural shape and feel to the reconstructed breast.
• Suitable for small and large breasts.
• Can create a breast with a more natural droop.
• Can often avoid the need for an implant.

Limitations Back to top

• The operation will leave a scar on the part of your body that the tissue flap was taken from, and an oval patch of skin on the reconstructed breast. Because this patch of skin has come from a different part of your body, it may be a different texture and colour from the breast skin.
• It involves having surgery to an additional part of your body.
• You will have a longer operation, hospital stay and recovery.
• Reconstructed breasts have little or no sensation (they feel numb).

Radiotherapy after reconstruction using your own tissue Back to top

There is a risk that radiotherapy may shrink or harden the tissue used to form the new breast and affect how the breast looks. So if your doctors think you may need radiotherapy after a mastectomy, they may suggest you have a delayed breast reconstruction|.