Breast Tissue Expander
Tissue Expander · Te · Expander · Integrated Valve Tissue Expander · Breast Expander
A silicone shell shaped like a breast implant that goes in nearly empty and is filled with sterile saline. It has a fill port, either built into the front of the shell or a separate remote port on a length of tubing. A built-in port may hold a magnet so it can be found through the skin, and a metal needle stop at its base.
On the table
What it does, the lengths it comes in and what experienced techs know about it.
What it’s for
Used in two-stage breast reconstruction. After the mastectomyma-STEK-tuh-meeSurgery to remove all or part of a breast.mast/o breast-ectomy surgical removalFull entry , the surgeon places it in a pocket under the pectoralis muscle (or in front of the muscle wrapped in acellular dermisDER-misThe thick layer of skin under the epidermis that holds blood vessels, nerves, hair roots and glands.derm/o skinFull entry matrix) and fills it with saline until the skin is slightly tight. Over the next weeks it is filled more in the office to stretch the skin. At a second surgery it is emptied, removed and replaced with a permanent implant.
Lengths and variants
Comes in many shapes and volumes; the surgeon picks one by the width of the breast base. Shells may be smooth or textured, and some expanders are made to stay in permanently. The pictured expander is a GC Aesthetics Blossom with an integrated port, made from 200 to 800 cc in three heights.
What experienced techs know
What techs who reach for it every day know about it.Pro
Through the case
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Inspection and testing
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4 sources
- Rothrock JC. Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery. 17th ed. Chapter 22 (Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), p. 826-827
- Fischer JE, ed. Fischer's Mastery of Surgery. 8th ed. Chapter 61 (Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy), sections Tissue Expansion/Implants and Surgical Technique for Tissue Expander/Acellular Dermal Matrix
- Fuller JK. Surgical Technology: Principles and Practice. 8th ed. Chapter 28 (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), p. 747
- gcaesthetics.com
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