Finding a breast reconstruction surgeon

Breast reconstruction| is very specialised surgery. Surgeons who do this type of operation may be breast cancer surgeons or plastic surgeons.

Some surgeons have training in both of these specialities and are known as oncoplastic surgeons. There aren’t many oncoplastic surgeons in the UK and you may have to travel to see one.

In some hospitals you may have a breast surgeon to do the mastectomy and another surgeon who is skilled in a reconstruction.

Some reconstruction operations need surgeons who are skilled in microsurgery, which is a specialised technique. The more complex operations will need to be done by a reconstructive plastic surgeon. You may need to travel to your regional plastic surgery unit – which may be some distance from your home – to have this type of operation. However, it may still be possible to have the risk-reducing mastectomy at the same time as the reconstruction.

You can ask your breast surgeon or the specialist nurse if there is a surgeon in your hospital who carries out breast reconstruction. If not, your surgeon can refer you to a reconstructive surgeon at another hospital.

When you see the reconstructive surgeon you can ask them about their experience in breast reconstruction. You can also ask to see photographs of operations they have done.

This can help to give you an idea of what may be possible with reconstructive surgery.

It’s important that both your breast surgeon and your reconstructive surgeon are sensitive to your thoughts and feelings about breast reconstruction.