Gail Lanter Hello, thank you for visiting. Can I help you in any way? Visitor Just looking to see if there are documented cases of additional surgeries needed after a DIEP surgery. I've had lots of stitches break through the incision line and had to go back for more surgery Gail Lanter Thanks for your question. It is not unusual for DIEP reconstruction to be a staged procedure. Visitor What are the stages that I can expect? Gail Lanter Typically, the first stage is the transfer of the harvested tissue to the chest. The second (3 months or so later) is shaping the breast and cleaning up the donor site if that needs to happen. The third is nipple-areolar reconstruction if needed and 3-D tattooing if desired at a later date. Although that is the standard expectation, it sometimes can be more than that - the first procedure is always inpatient but subsequent procedures are all outpatient or in-office procedures. A good example is if you required extra fullness to be added to the top area of the breast, a stage of surgery where we harvest fat and inject it to the area of tissue deficit might be added.   Let us know if you have any other questions we can answer.  We’re always happy to help!   Gail Gail Lanter, CPC Practice Manager