In recent decades, fortunately, advances in both the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer have been crucial to increasing patient survival rates, as well as improving their quality of life after treatments. We talked about it with Dr. Anna López Ojeda, head of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Service at the Bellvitge University Hospital (Barcelona). The doctor also carries out part of her professional work in the Plastic and Aesthetic surgery clinic in Barcelona and Manresa called Quirurgia.
Yes, on both counts. We must not forget that the treatment of breast cancer, especially the surgical part of it, represents a significant psychological blow for the woman who sees a part of her feminine identity altered, which in many cases can affect her daily life and their relationship with others, both in the work environment and even in family relationships. That is why breast reconstruction has such an important weight as an integral part of breast cancer treatment, helping patients in their emotional recovery after treatments. For all these reasons, I believe that it is essential to focus the training of professionals involved in treatment not only on offering the most cutting-edge solutions, but also on an approach that includes the woman as a whole.
For breast reconstruction, different surgical techniques can be offered that we can classify into two large groups: autologous techniques (which use the patient's own tissues to perform the reconstruction, such as, for example, the tissue from the lower abdomen) and heterologous techniques (using implants and/or breast expanders). In this sense, lately there have been commercial companies, such as Motiva Implants, that have developed new implants and tissue expanders with advanced characteristics that in some cases can give us a very effective aesthetic alternative.
In any case, choosing the best option for each patient depends on multiple factors and, therefore, it is essential to know and take into account the treatments that the patient has performed or is going to perform and how these may affect the reconstruction that is performed. perform. It is important to make a correct assessment of the tissues that the patient has or does not have for future reconstruction, her lifestyle habits and how these can influence the risk of complications, such as smoking, for example. But, without a doubt, the most important thing is to listen to our patients and know their preferences in order to be able to jointly choose the best option in each case, a vision shared by innovative companies like Motiva.
Fortunately, technological advances help us improve the results of our reconstructions. Advances in microsurgery, such as the application of fluorescence imaging technology, have allowed us to visualize the viability of tissues and, thereby, reduce the possible complications of reconstructions with tissue from the patient herself, as well as visualize the lymphatic channels. and treat lymphedema, which in some cases is a sequel to the armpit approach in the treatment of breast cancer. Likewise, research and advances in the development of breast prostheses offer us, today, safer and more biocompatible implants, such as the latest generation Motiva breast expanders that are even compatible with MRI and, therefore, They facilitate the radiological follow-up of the patient.
