The team approach to nipple-sparing mastectomy and reconstruction

Abstract

The goal of breast reconstruction is to recreate a breast that looks and feels like the natural breast. In order to achieve this goal, a collaborative approach to the surgical planning should be undertaken prior to any incisions. To have an excellent outcome in reconstruction, the plastic surgeon must have an excellent mastectomy flap quality. This is achieved by team work and communication between the breast surgeons and the plastic surgeons. The idea of a team approach to cancer care and breast reconstruction, once foreign, is now becoming the standard of care. With the evolution of breast care, advances in surgical techniques in mastectomies and reconstructions and availability of acellular dermal matrices, more patients are choosing and receiving breast reconstruction. Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM), once controversial, now has an expanding body of published experience, and is rapidly gaining momentum. NSM is evolving and should be considered a good treatment option in carefully selected patients.