Minimal Access Breast Cancer Surgery

Minimally invasive or minimal access breast surgery techniques were developed over the past two decades with the aim to achieve the same oncological safe surgical margins as conventional surgery but with smaller and/or fewer incisions. Specialized surgical instruments were utilized to give better visualization of the operative field while keeping the incision small and hidden in inconspicuous areas. There are a few broad categories of minimally invasive breast surgery (MIBS) techniques, which are but not limited to minimally invasive surgery techniques using moving window, retraction with light handle retractors; endoscopic MIBS using laparoscopic system, with or without insufflation, single or multiple ports and 3-dimensional (3D) or 4 K resolution system, depending on the location and size of the breast lesion; robotic breast surgery using robotic surgical system. With smaller and well-hidden incisions, postoperative recovery has been reported to be shorter with improved patients’ and surgeons’ satisfactions. In this chapter, commonly used minimally invasive breast surgery techniques in the surgical management of breast cancer will be discussed along with pictorial and video illustrations.