Latissimus dorsi Muscle Flap
Like the TRAM flaps, this procedure uses muscle in addition to skin and fat to reconstruct the breast. Like the pedicled TRAM flap, it does not require the surgeon to have specialized microvascular expertise.
The latissimus dorsi muscle and some of the overlying skin and fat are used from underneath the shoulder and from the back of the chest wall. This tissue is passed underneath the skin of the chest wall and brought forward to reconstruct the breast.
As the skin and muscle of the latissimus dorsi flap may have insufficient volume for a desired breast reconstruction, a breast implant sometimes is placed under the reconstructed skin and muscle to more completely fill out the tissue.
Latissimus dorsi flap  
With a latissimus dorsi flap surgery, tissue also may be taken from the back and tunneled to the front of the chest wall to support the reconstructed breast. The transported tissue forms a flap for a breast implant, or it may provide enough bulk to form the breast mound without an implant. |
