Mini-breast reconstruction with an omental flap: a retrospective clinical study.

INTRODUCTION: Potential challenges associated with immediate small breast reconstruction include an inadequate size of the donor site, a thinner skin envelope and limited selection of implants. We present immediate postmastectomy reconstruction of small breasts with a laparoscopically harvested pedicled omental flap (LHPOF) in five Korean women.

METHODS: From December 2014 to July 2015, we performed immediate postmastectomy reconstruction with an LHPOF in five breast cancer patients. Data on the patients' age; body mass index; tumour size; site, type and weight of the mastectomy specimen; operative time; hospital stay; complications; postoperative chemotherapy or radiation therapy; and follow-up duration were reviewed in this retrospective clinical study.

RESULTS: The mean mastectomy specimen weight was 212 g (range: 104-272 g). The mean operative time was 298 min (range: 240-380 min), and the mean harvesting time was 75 min (range: 65-90 min). There were no flap-related complications such as fat necrosis or flap loss and no donor site-related complications such as bowel dysfunction, an epigastric bulge or hernia during the follow-up period (average: 8.2 months, range: 5-11 months). The cosmetic results were satisfactory.

DISCUSSION: The LHPOF can be useful for immediate postmastectomy reconstruction of small breasts, because it provides a soft and naturally ptotic appearance of the reconstructed breast (versus implant-based reconstruction) with low donor-site morbidity (versus other autologous tissue reconstruction approaches).