What is TRAM Flap Breast Reconstruction?
The TRAM flap (Transverse Rectus Abdominus Myocutaneous) is a tissue flap procedure that uses muscle, fat, and skin from your abdomen to create a new breast mound after a mastectomy.
TRAM Flap in Baltimore
This procedure takes its name from the transverse rectus abdominis muscle in your tummy. Your reconstructed breast will not look and feel exactly the same as your natural breast, and you will need additional surgery to create a nipple and areola.
How is TRAM Flap Breast Reconstruction Performed?
During a TRAM flap reconstruction, skin, fat, and muscle will be moved from your tummy up to your chest and used to create a breast mound. Most women have enough tissue in their tummy area to create a new breast. But if there is not enough tissue, a small implant can be placed to fill out the size of the new breast. Two methods are used to move your tissue from your tummy to your chest — free flap and pedicle flap.
What are the Advantages of TRAM Flap Breast Reconstruction?
A TRAM flap reconstructed breast will feel very much like a natural breast to anyone who is touching you: It will be warm and soft because it will have good circulation and enough fat to drape and sway like your original breast. Because abdominal muscles and fat are incorporated into your new breast, you will also have a tummy tuck, resulting in a flatter abdomen. It is important to know that your new breast will not have much sensation, because the nerves that were in your original breast have been removed.
What can I Expect During TRAM Flap Breast Reconstruction?
You will not be awake during your mastectomy or reconstruction, so you will have intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. If you are having a mastectomy and reconstruction at the same time (immediate reconstruction), your general surgeon will first remove your breast, sparing as much skin as will be safe to keep. Then, Dr. Birely will use a skin marker to carefully plan for the incision that will create your skin flap. A pointed ellipse will be drawn across your abdomen, over your rectus abdominis muscle. This ellipse will become the skin flap that closes the incision for your reconstructed breast. When the incision for the flap is shut, it will become a line that crosses your tummy from hip to hip. On the skin markings, Dr. Birely will make an incision, and raise the skin and muscle flap. A tunnel will be created under your skin so that the flap can be relocated. This tissue flap will go through the tunnel to your mastectomy incision.
