Treatment Options

TRAM Flap

In the past, the most common method of tissue reconstruction of the breast was the TRAM flap, so called because it uses the transverse rectus abdominis muscle, the large muscle that runs from below the ribs to the groin, to create a breast mound. 

However, because the TRAM flap sacrifices the abdominal muscles, it increases pain as well as the risk of a hernia, and results in a weaker abdomen. As a result, our surgeons very rarely offer this procedure.

Instead, women who prefer tissue reconstruction should ask their surgeon about a newer procedure, the DIEP flap, which uses only skin and fat from the abdomen to create the new breast mound and does not transfer the rectus muscle.

Back to Breast Reconstruction. 

• Tissue expander and implant
• Latissimus dorsi flap 
• DIEP flap
• Nipple reconstruction
• Symmetry with the other breast

August 2007