Mastectomy - Know Forms Of It!

A breast lump is a tissue growth that develops in the breast. Lumps can be of different types based on how they feel and look. The lump can be perceived as a growth, thickness, fullness, swelling, mass etc. If the lump appears in one breast, it might look larger than the other one. A breast lump can aggravate breast cancer, if a person does not seek proper medical attention on time. To treat lump, a surgical procedure known as the Mastectomy is often employed by on-surgeons. All breast tissues are taken out to prevent breast cancer. Often a surgical reconstruction of the breast is performed post a mastectomy.

What are the different types of mastectomy?

1. Modified radical mastectomy: This is a procedure that involves the removal of the entire breast including the nipple, tissue, lymph nodes, areola etc. It is performed for large tumors.
2. Total mastectomy: This is a procedure that involves removing the breast concluding areola, breast tissue, and nipple. A lymph node biopsy is required to perform this procedure.
3. Skin-sparing Mastectomy: This is a procedure that involves removal of the areola, nipple and the breast tissues but not the skin. A breast reconstruction procedure can be performed immediately after this procedure.
4. Subcutaneous Mastectomy: This is a procedure that involves the removal of only the breast tissues, but keeping the rest of the breast tissues undisturbed.

What happens before the procedure?
Mastectomy without a reconstruction typically takes about 2-3 hours to perform. A patient might have to spend a day in the hospital. If in case both the breasts are removed, a patient might have to stay more than a couple of days in the hospital. A sentinel biopsy might be performed before the surgery, to check the lymph nodes. A patient is generally asked to arrive several hours before the surgery is scheduled.

What happens after the procedure?
Once the surgery is over, a patient is shifted to the recovery room where, breathing, blood pressure and pulse is continuously monitored. A dressing bandage is wrapped around the surgical area. Since the patient is given general anesthesia before the surgery, she might not feel any pain immediately after the surgery but there could be discomfort, numbness and pain a few hours after the surgery. Pain medication and the antibiotic is prescribed, before discharging releasing the patient from the hospital.

How to prepare for the surgery?
For starters, it is important to reveal to the doctor, the names of the medications, supplements or vitamins that a patient might be consuming to her doctor. It is also necessary to stop blood-thinning medicine or aspirin, to avoid unnecessary complication with the surgery. Doctors typically advise not to eat or drink anything for 12 hours, before the surgery. A patient should be prepared for a hospital stay.