THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT OF BREAST AFTER MASTECTOMY

Abstract

Mammary carcinoma is the most common malignant pathology in women, and the plastic surgeon is daily in the frontline in treating it. Our task, and our aim, is to offer patients the most valid solutions in order to reach the most effective oncological outcome together with the best aesthethic result. The surgical treatment of mammary tumors has undergone profound and continuous changes in the last thirty years: the tendency towards completely destructive operations has given way to evermore preserving sur- gery thanks to the possibility of combining general surgery with plastic surgery tech- niques. This has enabled the conflict be- tween surgical removal and aesthetic results to be overcome, thus improving the patients’ quality of life. This possibility has given rise to the need of a thorough study of the evolu- tion which has taken place in the last years in the field of post-mastectomy mammary re- construction, taking into exam all available techniques and evaluating their usefulness at present. This study has been carried out with the collaboration of Bryant A. Toth, a world- famous plastic and reconstructive surgeon with a vast experience in numerous aspects of this field and who has taken us through this ambitious project.