DIEP 20

Age:                          62

Diagnosis:                Breast cancer

Radiation:                 Yes

Reconstruction:        DIEP flap (L)

Timing:                      Immediate

Flap placement:       Subcutaneous

Opposite breast:      No surgery

Nipple:                      Not reconstructed

Comment:                Although an immediate reconstruction, skin had to be excised to get clear margins because the tumor was very near the skin surface. Abdominal skin from the DIEP flap was used to replace this excised skin: hence the ‘patch.’ However, in most immediate reconstructions, skin does NOT need to be excised and the final scar is simply around the areola.