Fundamentals of Autologous Breast Reconstruction

Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. Autologous breast reconstruction offers many advantages over implants and with recent advances in microsurgical skills, has become increasingly popular. The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap has emerged as the most common flap option. Multiple patient-specific factors dictate the surgical plan for breast reconstruction including the timing of reconstruction, type of mastectomy, and the donor site for autologous tissue. This chapter describes various surgical considerations of autologous reconstruction of the breast.