Before and after bilateral TUG flap breast reconstructions in a 38 year old woman with aggressive breast cancer. She had completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy and was ready for a mastectomy. She chose to have bilateral mastectomies and immediate breast reconstructions using her inner thigh tissue.
She knew she needed radiation therapy but did not want to wait to have reconstruction. Radiation therapy will not injure a flap (or an implant); it may shrink a flap up to 10-20% at one year after radiation is complete.
This patient underwent bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies and immediate TUG flap breast reconstruction. Inner thigh skin and fat was microsurgically transplanted to her chest on tiny blood vessels. Learn more about this procedure and the recovery after TUG flap breast reconstruction in this YouTube video.
Follow up photos are shown 7 months after surgery. She has completed radiation therapy, as evidenced by the darker color and mild swelling of her right breast skin. She will wait at least a year before any revisions are planned.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
