Breast Reduction
A breast reduction is performed in order to alleviate back pain, neck pain, and difficulty exercising due to the size of a woman's breasts. The goals of this surgery are to decrease the volume of breast tissue, raise the position of the nipples and narrow the breast width. This can be performed using either the 'lollipop' scar or the 'anchor' scar.
1. Overview
After surgery scars remain on the breast. These can be either the 'lollipop' scar or the 'anchor scar'.
2. Preoperative Considerations
The typical candidate for a breast reduction procedure is a patient with a long history of large, heavy breasts that cause neck pain, back pain, shoulder strap grooving and difficulty exercising.
Patients that are not candidates for this type of surgery include:
Patients that smoke
Patients with a BMI > 32. Click here to calculate your BMI.
This surgery takes from 2-3.5 hours depending on the size of the breasts. Drains are not required for this surgery. Patients are able to return home on the day of surgery.
3. Surgical Considerations
4. Postoperative Considerations
Following surgery patients are restricted from exercise or heavy activity for a period of 4 weeks. Underwire bras are also restricted to limit pressure on the incisions. Patients typically return to work after 10 days - 2 weeks.
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5. Possible Complications
Seroma (15%)
Wound healing complications (10%)
Hematoma (5%)
Infection (1-2%)
Breast asymmetry (1%)
Nipple asymmetry (1%)
Areolar widening (1%)
Nipple retraction (1%)
DVT (0.07%-3.5%)
PE (0.09%-2%)
Nipple necrosis (0.25%)
During surgery breast tissue is removed and sent for analysis. The remaining tissue provides blood supply to the nipple and will form the new breast.