Breast Surgery
Whether you're seeking aesthetic enhancement, restored symmetry, or relief from physical discomfort, we offer a full spectrum of breast surgeries.
Breast Surgery & Reconstruction
What You Should Know About Breast Reconstruction
Today, women who lose one or both breasts to cancer and mastectomy can benefit from state-of-the-art opportunities in reconstruction. At MUSC, we believe each woman should have access to the full range of options including those for implant reconstruction as well as revolutionary techniques for natural tissue reconstruction, which our doctors have helped to advance.
Our Breast Reconstruction Procedures
We provide a full range of advanced breast surgery options designed to restore form, balance, and confidence after mastectomy or breast surgery.
Breast Symmetry
If you are having a mastectomy on one side, symmetry procedures may be done on the preserved breast during a secondary stage in the reconstruction process.
Breast Implant Reconstruction
Whether you choose to have reconstruction with implants or using your own tissue, our team will help you explore and understand your options.
Breast Tissue Expanders
Your reconstruction may require a tissue expander —an empty silicone envelope with an access port—to be temporarily put in place.
Nipple/Areola Reconstruction
Our procedures include nipple reconstruction and 3D areola tattoos.
Managing Lymphedema
Our surgeons can transfer lymph nodes from other parts of the body to alleviate chronic underarm swelling caused by lymph node removal during mastectomy.
Our Breast Reconstruction & Surgery Locations
MUSC Hollings Cancer Network - Florence High-Risk Breast Program
Address
1590 Freedom BoulevardFlorence Womens Pavilion, Suite A
Florence, SC 29505
Hours
- Monday8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Wednesday8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Friday8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- SaturdayClosed
- SundayClosed
Specialties
- Breast Cancer
- Breast Surgery
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Breast Care
Address
Beaufort Memorial Okatie Medical Pavilion122 Okatie Center Boulevard North
Beaufort Memorial Okatie Medical Pavilion, Suite 110
Okatie, SC 29909
Specialties
- Breast Cancer
- Breast Surgery
- Medical Oncology
- Surgical Oncology
Which Breast Reconstruction Procedure is Right for You?
We’re to guide you through your options and help you make informed choices—such as whether to delay reconstruction or have it during your mastectomy. Our goal is to ensure you understand every possibility so you feel confident and satisfied with your reconstruction journey.
Which Breast Reconstruction Procedure is Right for You?
We’re to guide you through your options and help you make informed choices—such as whether to delay reconstruction or have it during your mastectomy. Our goal is to ensure you understand every possibility so you feel confident and satisfied with your reconstruction journey.
Breast Reconstruction Options
MUSC offers numerous breast reconstruction procedure options. Your doctor can work with you to better determine which procedure is right for you based on your needs.
The timing of breast reconstruction will depend on your circumstances and personal wishes. Some patients are able to have immediate reconstruction at the same time as mastectomy. Others delay reconstruction until after recovery from mastectomy and subsequent cancer treatments.
Delayed
For the best cosmetic results, mastectomy patients who will undergo radiation and or chemotherapy are advised to delay reconstruction until their treatments have been completed.If you plan on delayed reconstruction, it’s best to have a tissue expander put in place at the time of mastectomy to make room for a permanent implant or natural tissue (autologous) reconstruction. The tissue expander acts as a space-saver and prevents the skin from scarring down to the chest wall after radiation, which would otherwise complicate reconstruction. The expander will be filled with saline during the procedure, but the degree of expansion will be limited at the time of surgery by the amount of available skin left following mastectomy. Once the incisions from surgery heal, more saline can be inserted during a series of follow-up office visits, allowing your breasts to expand over time to the size you desire.
Ultimately, the tissue expanders will be exchanged for implants or natural tissue during reconstruction. Each patient’s situation is unique, and the timing of your delayed reconstruction will depend on your cancer treatment.
Immediate
Some patients are candidates for one-step breast reconstruction in which they skip using tissue expanders and have natural tissue reconstruction or implants placed at the time of mastectomy. This option is typically reserved for women who will not need radiation treatment. For those who are eligible, it promises more simplicity and less disruption to daily life.One of your biggest decisions will be whether to have reconstruction with breast implants – which can be placed easily but have a limited lifetime – or to have reconstruction using your own tissue, which is more involved initially but can offer a permanent solution as well as several other benefits. There are advantages and disadvantages to consider for each.
Implant reconstruction
Implant reconstruction only takes about one hour when done on both sides (bilateral). It requires a short hospitalization of one to two days when performed at the time of mastectomy and can be done on an outpatient basis if reconstruction is delayed.However, if you opt for an implant you will be adding a foreign object to your body, and that will increase your risk of infection soon after surgery. In addition, the implant might move, so it’s no longer positioned correctly, or fail in other ways.
One of the most common problems is capsular contracture in which the scar tissue (capsule) that forms around the implant starts to tighten, making the breast feel hard and painful and look distorted.
Also note that when implants are used for reconstruction a woman has little to no breast tissue left to cover them. As a result, breasts reconstructed with implants will not feel or look as natural as breasts that have been enlarged with implants for cosmetic reasons. Yet women who have implants can expect to gain more breast sensation than those who have natural tissue reconstruction.
An implant will rupture and will require more surgery at some point. The average lifespan of an implant is 13.5 years. Replacement of an implant usually only takes about 30 minutes and can be done through an outpatient procedure.
Natural tissue reconstruction
With this approach, the surgeon transplants tissue from one part of your body and uses it create a soft, full breast that should live with you for the rest of your life. At MUSC, we often transfer a flap of skin and fat from the abdomen, typically using the DIEP procedure, which has a success rate around 97-98 percent. But a flap of tissue may be taken from the buttocks, thigh or back, depending on what will work best for you.Because the flap is made of your own tissue, it will continue to act as a part of you, for example, growing or decreasing in size as you gain or lose weight. Your breasts will look and hang in a more genuine way and will feel more natural to the touch than breasts reconstructed with implants.
It’s important to know that natural tissue reconstruction may involve more time and effort on the front end than implant reconstruction. Yet the plastic surgeons at MUSC are able to perform the initial procedure in half the time of some centers with less experience. It usually takes us three to four hours to reconstruct one breast with natural tissue and microsurgery – six to eight hours to reconstruct two breasts. Afterward, you will stay in the hospital three to four days.
Patients often have a revisional surgery to make the breasts look as similar as possible and to resolve any issues from your abdominal scar. This second surgery is typically a one-hour outpatient procedure. Nipple reconstruction may be done at this time or in a later outpatient procedure.
A unilateral mastectomy involves the removal of one breast, while a bilateral mastectomy involves both breasts. If you have cancer in one breast, you may decide to have the other breast removed at the same time as a cancer prevention measure (prophylactic mastectomy).
If you are having a bilateral mastectomy, you also can undergo reconstruction of both breasts at the same time with the same reconstructive technique, whether you use implants or your own natural tissue. Or you may preserve your natural, cancer-free breast and undergo a symmetry procedure – for example, a breast reduction or breast lift – to ensure that your natural breast looks similar to your newly reconstructed breast.
Acellular dermis is human tissue that is taken from the back of a cadaver and processed in a way that prevents rejection and infection. In recent years, surgeons have started to use acellular dermis as a helpful tool in breast reconstruction.
Following a mastectomy, there is minimal breast tissue left. Acellular dermis incorporates into your own tissue and allows better structural support. Women who delay reconstruction typically have a tissue expander inserted at the time of mastectomy as a space-saver. Acellular dermis is used to create a sling that helps hold the tissue expander in place while also providing an extra layer of tissue between the expander and skin.
When used with implant reconstruction, acellular dermis makes the implant less visible and less likely to be felt under the skin. It can help control the implant’s location, define the breast crease and provide additional tissue for a more natural looking breast.
