Risks With Breast Reduction Surgery

Breast reduction surgery is also called by its more formal name of reduction mammaplasty. Women who choose to have this type of operation are usually quite relieved and happy with the results. Extremely large breasts can be cumbersome, painful and the subject of ridicule and embarrassment. After achieving a more proportionate shape, post-op patients often feel a great sense of freedom. There are risks, however, that females who are considering this type of operation should be aware of. Here are some things to think about:

-Cumbersome: Excessively large bosoms make buying clothes a difficult process. It's hard to achieve a proper fit when one's chest is out of proportion. Participating in certain sports, especially those that entail running and jumping, can be out of the question. The pain experienced by toting this extra poundage cannot even be alleviated with a sturdy sports bra.

-Painful: Huge breasts rub against the skin on the midsection below them as well as against the lower portion of a bra. This can cause skin irritation and rashes which can be very uncomfortable. Bra straps often dig into the shoulders' flesh due to the weight of the bosoms. Posture problems, shoulder and neck aches, and backaches may occur, as well.

-Embarrassment: Many females develop these immense chests at young ages such as twelve years old. They may still be children, but they are often already the subject of men gawking, ogling, staring and making cat calls. This can be highly embarrassing for these pre-teens and something that they will likely experience into adulthood.

A reduction mammaplasty is a surgical procedure performed by a plastic surgeon in a hospital or clinical setting. The operation takes two or three hours and is performed under general anesthesia. An overnight stay is usually required before a patient is ready to be released. There will be pain and swelling initially which will recede over time. Pain medication is given at first in order to make the patient more comfortable. During surgery, the nipple and areola will be removed and reattached after a portion of the breast skin and tissue is removed. Liposuction may be done to remove excess fatty deposits. There will be scarring but it will fade over time.

Some risks that patients should be aware of before the procedure include:

-Unexpected scarring: No one knows ahead of time exactly how the scars will look. Some individuals' scars end up fairly light and barely noticeable while others have much more pronounced results.

-Infection: All surgical procedures carry some risk of infection. This is usually easily controlled with antibiotics.

-Breastfeeding may be impossible: A woman who is planning to have future children should realize that her ability to breastfeed may be limited or nonexistent.

-Loss of sensitivity: Nipple sensitivity may be lessened after the procedure.

Breast reduction surgery can lighten a woman's load both physically and emotionally. It can be a great change in her life but she needs to be aware of the risks of complications before going under the scalpel.

Breast Cancer Stages

Breast cancer is divided into five stages. Stages 0-2 are considered "early", stage 3 considered "advanced", and stage 4 "late". Staging categories are important for predicting future prognosis, and determine optimal treatment recommendations.

Stage 0 is DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ. Breast cancer arises from the cells that line the milk ducts. When the cancerous cells are still contained inside the duct, it is diagnosed as DCIS. This can only be determined by a pathologist doctor looking at the tissue under a microscope. In general, when the DCIS lesion is small, there is no need to suspect cancer spread outside the breast.

Stage 1 is invasive or infiltrating cancer. Here, the cancer cells have broken through the duct wall and are found outside the ducts as well. In this case, doctors need to determine whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

Stage 1 breast cancer must be equal or smaller than 2 cm in its invasive component, AND have no spread to lymph nodes. Often, the tissue removed at surgery contain DCIS in addition to the invasive cancer. However, only the dimensions of the invasive cancer count. If the patient needs to have multiple surgeries and the invasive cancer is found at more than one operation, usually the dimensions are added together to arrive at the final size.

Stage 2 has two subcategories. In stage 2A, the invasive cancer can be 2 cm or less and has spread to axillary (armpit) lymph node(s), i.e. positive node(s). Also, the invasive cancer can be as large as 5 cm, but has not spread to lymph nodes, i.e. negative nodes. In stage 2B, the invasive cancer is between 2cm and up to 5 cm and has spread to nodes. Here, cancer may measure even larger than 5 cm if it has not spread to nodes.

Stage 3 includes invasive cancer larger than 5 cm that has spread to lymph nodes.

Also, cancer of any size that heavily involves the axillary lymph nodes to the point that these nodes are bulky and stuck together or stuck to other structures in the axilla (armpit) are in this stage. Tumor spread to lymph nodes either above or below the clavicle bone, or to nodes underneath the sternum (breast bone), also falls into this category. Furthermore, if the cancer of any size is attached to the chest wall (pectoralis muscle and/or ribs), it qualifies as stage 3. Inflammatory cancer, where the skin of the breast is red and swollen, is classified in this stage, regardless of size.

Stage 4 is invasive cancer found outside the breast and axillary lymph nodes, or "metastatic" to distant sites. At this stage, it does not matter how large the primary cancer in the breast is. Nor does it matter whether axillary/clavicle/breast bone lymph nodes have cancer or not. The most common sites for metastasis for breast cancer are bone and liver, followed by lungs and brain. Standard testing include bone scan and CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. More recently, PET scan is often done to look for cancer spread. Sometimes, a brain MRI or CT is also useful.