Immediate breast reconstruction. A review.

In summary, immediate breast reconstruction has many advantages to the patients and to the surgeons who perform breast reconstruction. For the patients, it is less expensive, psychologically easier, and more convenient. For the surgeons, it facilitates the reconstruction and improves the aesthetic results. Oncologically, there is no reason not to perform immediate breast reconstruction unless the patient does not want it or the prognosis is so poor that any breast reconstruction is unwarranted. We generally offer immediate breast reconstruction to all patients with in situ, T1, or T2 breast cancers who are appropriate surgical candidates. We also offer it to selected patients with T3 breast cancers if the patients are good surgical candidates and are anxious to undergo immediate reconstruction. Skin-sparing mastectomy combined with immediate breast reconstruction has improved the quality of our results and the quality of our patients' lives. By helping our patients in this manner, it has increased the amount of pride we can take in our work and therefore the quality of our own lives as well.