What is included in a latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction?

In a latissimus dorsi flap procedure, an oval flap of skin, fat, muscle, and blood vessels from your upper back is used to reconstruct the breast. This flap is moved under your skin around to your chest to rebuild your breast.

What is latissimus flap?

When back tissue is used for breast reconstruction, it involves the latissimus dorsi muscle, along with the skin and fat that covers the muscle. This procedure is called a latissimus dorsi (LD) flap. The tissue from your back is removed and moved to the front of your chest, with the arteries and veins still attached.

How do you do the latissimus dorsi?

Begin this latissimus dorsi stretch standing tall with your back straight and hands above your head. Gently lean to one side until you feel a mild to moderate stretch in the side of your upper back and shoulder (figure 2). Hold for 5 seconds and then return to the starting position.

How is the latissimus dorsi flap used for breast reconstruction?

The latissimus dorsi flap breast reconstruction is a procedure that uses skin, fat, and muscle from the upper back (the flap) to rebuild the breast shape after a mastectomy. Though some tissue flaps are used by themselves to reconstruct the breast, the latissimus dorsi flap is often used in conjunction with a breast implant.

Where does the latissimus dorsi flap take place?

The latissimus dorsi is a tissue flap procedure that uses muscle and skin from your upper back to create a new breast mound after a mastectomy. An ellipse of skin and your latissimus dorsi muscle will be tunneled from your upper back to your mastectomy area to create your reconstructed breast.

How long does a dorsi flap reconstruction take?

The LD flap provides soft tissue to allow complete coverage of an underlying implant. The length of surgery for latissimus dorsi flap breast reconstruction is typically two to three hours, and requires one to three post-operative days in the hospital.

How is the LD flap used in breast reconstruction?

At the time of breast reconstruction, the muscle flap, with or without attached skin, is elevated off of the back and brought around to the front of the chest wall. The main vessels remain attached to the body to ensure proper blood supply to the flap. The LD flap provides soft tissue to allow complete coverage of an underlying implant.

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