Type of breast reconstruction. The skin where the breast was is slowly stretched by an inflatable implant until it is the same size as the natural breast.
Breast shape is created by placing an inflatable envelope under the skin and muscle. Over several weeks it is expanded gradually by injections of salt water.
Inflatable implant. It is inserted under the skin and tissue that needs to be expanded (e.g., chest skin post-mastectomy). Once expanded over a several month period, a breast implant replaces the expander.
During a mastectomy, the general surgeon removes skin as well as breast tissue, leaving the chest tissues flat and tight. To create a breast shaped space for the breast implant, a tissue expander is placed under the remaining chest tissues. The tissue expander is a balloon-like device made from elastic silicone rubber. It is inserted unfilled, and over time, sterile saline fluid is added by inserting a small needle through the skin to the filling port of the device. As the tissue expander fills, the tissues over the expander begin to stretch, similar to the gradual expansion of a woman's abdomen during pregnancy. The tissue expander creates a new breast shaped pocket for a breast implant. Tissue expander placement usually occurs under general anesthesia in an operating room. Operative time is generally one to two hours. The procedure may require a brief hospital stay, or be done on an outpatient basis. Typically, you can resume normal daily activity after two to three weeks.
a balloon that is placed beneath the scalp
a short-term implant that is surgically placed under the skin and the muscle of the chest and gradually inflated with saline, over a number of weeks or months, to gently stretch the skin
a small "balloon" that is placed beneath the chest muscle (pectoralis muscle) at the time of the mastectomy
Breast implant that is gradually filled with saline to stretch the surrounding tissue. Breast Reconstruction
inflatable balloon placed under the skin and gradually expanded with saline to cause new tissue to grow over it
A temporary saline implant used to stretch the skin sufficiently to make room for a fixed-volume implant.
A reconstructive balloon-like device which can be used to enlarge hair-bearing scalp on the sides of the head, providing a larger supply of hair with which to replace the bald areas. Often used in hair flap techniques and scalp reductions.
An adjustable implant that can be inflated with salt water to stretch the tissues at the mastectomy site.
A device used to stretch the remaining breast skin after a mastectomy. A tissue expander is similar to a balloon, and the surgeon will fill the expander with salt-water solution periodically (usually once a week). The expansion process typically takes three to four months. After the skin is sufficiently stretched, the surgeon will replace the expander with a permanent breast implant. Also called breast expander.
