What Is Latissimus Flap Reconstruction?
Lateral flap surgery is a method for breast reconstruction that uses skin, fat, and other tissues from your back to construct a natural-looking breast replacement after mastectomy. Latissimus flap reconstruction gets its name from the latissimus dorsi muscle, which is used for the surgery. During latissimus flap surgery, our providers at Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery make an incision in your back under the shoulder blades, cutting an oval-shaped section of donor tissue to move to the chest through a tunnel under your armpit. The donor tissue is usually placed over a tissue expander or implant to create the breast size you desire. This approach allows us to avoid severing blood vessels, ensuring your reconstructed breast gets an adequate supply of blood. Latissimus flap surgery is just one of many approaches to breast reconstruction we perform at our Chicago, IL practice. To learn more about this procedure and which reconstructive technique is right for you, schedule a consultation with our friendly, compassionate plastic surgery team.
How Is Latissimus Flap Surgery Performed?
During your consultation, we'll discuss how breast reconstruction surgery works and recommend an approach based on your figure and health profile. Latissimus dorsi flap surgery is performed with general anesthesia and often takes 2 – 3 hours. First, your surgeon will make an oval-shaped incision in your back. After gaining access to the latissimus muscle and tissues underneath, we'll create a tunnel through the armpit area to your chest to create a natural breast mound. If additional volume is needed, we'll also install a tissue expander, which will allow us to slowly expand the breasts to prepare for future implant surgery.
What Are the Benefits of Latissimus Flap Reconstruction?
Just like every breast reconstruction technique we use at Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery, latissimus flap surgery comes with a variety of benefits that may make an ideal choice for your breast restoration. Some of the advantages of latissimus flip reconstruction include:
- Offers a more natural look and feel
- May eliminate the need for future surgeries (depending on the timing of your procedure)
- Offers an option for women who have undergone radiation therapy for breast cancer
- Enhanced confidence
Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery Reviews
I had chin lipo done by Dr. Simon and had the BEST experience. I’ve wanted to do this my whole life and finally made the choice because of how comfortable I felt going into the process. During the surgery it was painless and we were actually cracking jokes and laughing the whole time with Monica who is also WONDERFUL. Don’t get me wrong it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world but there was no pain at any point. My recovery has gone super well and In just 3-4 days you can live your life totally normal. I already have friends who have seen my results that are going to Dr. Simon now.
I completely recommend this location & Dr. Simon Moradian. The entire staff was extremely welcoming, friendly, and informative. Dr Simon listened to all my questions & concerns, he gave his recommendation while still listening to what I wanted done. I am very pleased with my surgery, and the results are better than I thought they would be! 100% recommend and will be coming back if I ever want anything more.
I've lived in Chicago for 20 years, and have visited a handful of different med spas and have been under the care of a couple of other plastice surgeons in the Chciago Metro area. However, no experience was as wonderful as mine with Dr. Simon at Northwestern. I've lost and gained quite a bit of weight over the last 15 years or so and decided to have chin lipo, and couldn't be happier. I feel and look amazing, and will not go back to another Doctor now. His PA MoniKa is equally as lovely, and caring as Dr. Moradian himself. I would recommend Dr. Moradian, his staff, and his practice to everyone I know!
Five stars is not enough. I came to Dr. Moradian for an upper bleph - my results were phenomenal. I didn't want to look surprised or crazy; I wanted to look like I got a good night's sleep. And that is exactly what he delivered. He and NSPS also went the extra mile to make sure I was comfortable. Dr. Moradian is truly a talented surgeon and I was lucky to find him.
I visited Dr Fine and his team after a failed breast reconstruction after being treated for cancer with mastectomy, chemo and radiation. From the first visit, there were noticeable differences between my prior surgeon and him. He and his team are empathetic and make their patients feel at ease and cared for. At each visit, he and his team have spent a lot of time with me. The visits never feel rushed. At my first visit, he looked at my infected reconstructed breast with an exposed implant and calmly explained what was necessary to fix it. He then explained the procedure he thought would be helpful and showed me before and after pictures of patients who had undergone the suggested surgery. The end result was gorgeous, by the way, in all of these pictures---even in post radiation patients. In this visit alone, he spent more time with me than my prior surgeon had spent with me over multiple visits. He answered all my very detailed questions. In my first visit with my prior surgeon, before my mastectomy, my husband and I were left alone in an exam room for about an hour with a saline-filled implant and silicone-filled implant on the counter to look at. The surgeon I went to before spent about 20 minutes with me in that visit and did not go into detail. The choices presented to me were implant reconstruction with saline- or silicone-filled implants or an abdominal flap procedure that takes 2-4 months to recover from. I am very career-oriented and don't have 2 months to take off of work. Dr Fine, on the other hand, gave me the option of a latissimus dorsi flap with a significantly shorter recovery time, lower complication rate, and better aesthetic result. He gives you his honest opinion based on 30 years of experience. He tells you the hard truths: such as that 50% of implant reconstructions fail after radiation therapy. I wish I would have known that before I started on this journey because I would have made very different choices. The icing on the cake was when he took out the infected implant in his office, which makes a woman feel really terrible and ugly and scared, and his very kind PA told me I have beautiful eyes. Wow. What a caring team.
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Trust Our Experience
If you are looking for an experienced surgeon to help you regain your old figure after breast loss, the team at Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery can help. Specializing in latissimus flap surgery and a variety of other techniques, we have extensive experience helping with breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Start your healing journey by scheduling a consultation at our Chicago, IL plastic surgery office.