Q: How long is the surgery for a single mastectomy and reconstruction using my own abdominal fat?
A: Hi Patricia. Thank you for your question. The total time for a given surgery is variable and depends on many details. In general, when we have a patient going through a mastectomy of one breast and reconstruction at the same time using tummy natural fatty tissue without removing important muscles, the average is 3-6 hours.
The reason I cannot be more exact with the answer is that each person is different and there are different options depending on what size breast we are making, how much extra tummy fat someone has and can we use one versus two areas of the body to get the right amount of fat. It is important to know that we work with a breast surgeon who performs the mastectomy. We start at the same time and while the mastectomy is being performed I am already working on getting the tummy fat ready to make a new breast. Working together at the same time always makes the surgery shorter and helps us get a better result. I hope I answered your question. If you would like to talk to me about the specifics of your situation let me know. If so I could be more specific.
Dr. James Craigie
