Reconstruction using implants
This technique is proposed primarily to patients who do not want to undergo a complex form of reconstruction using their own tissue, patients who do not want additional scarring and patients who require both breasts to be reconstructed (and do not have enough of their own tissue for the procedure).
If the reconstruction is performed at the same time as the mastectomy, it is called a primary or immediate reconstruction. In this case, the skin on the breast can be saved (subcutaneous mastectomy), which leaves fewer visible scars.
If the skin is too tight after a mastectomy, tissue can be stretched gradually by tissue expansion. After sufficient stretching of the skin, the tissue expander is replaced by a permanent implant.
Placing an implant in an area that has had or will have radiation therapy is highly inadvisable.
