Breast Re-construction Breakthrough for Very Slim Women

Thousands of breast cancer patients undergo immediate reconstruction after their tumours are removed, often using tissue from their stomach or back. But very slim women are usually offered silicone implants. Now a new technique means surgeons can use thigh tissue to create a new breast.

The TUG – transverse upper gracilis – flap is the latest innovation in breast reconstruction but it is lengthy surgery. This technique requires for each breast that a crescent-shaped wedge of tissue is removed from the inner upper thighs with a muscle and blood vessels attached.

Surgeons remove all the breast tissue via a skin-sparing mastectomy: just the areola and nipple are removed completely and all the breast tissue is taken out via this opening. The shape of the tissue taken from the inner thigh makes an excellent breast-like cone shape. The peak will become the nipple and the muscle taken fills the cone. This tissue is eased into the empty breast skin, tacked loosely on one side, and then microscopes are used to connect the tiny vessels in the flap to those in the chest.

Joanne Roberts, 35, a deputy headmistress in Epping, Essex, tells Angela Brooks about her experience, and her surgeon explains the procedure in the Daily Mail.