ABSTRACT

According to statistics reported by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 86,424 women underwent breast reconstruction in 2009 ( 1 ). Two thirds of these women (56,978) opted to have tissue expansion and subsequent placement of an implant. In a survey of female, boardcertifi ed plastic surgeons in the United States, 66% reported that they would choose implant-based reconstruction for themselves if they had mastectomies ( 2 ). Of the female plastic surgeons who primarily perform implant-based surgery, 87% would, themselves, have expanders. Of the women who do primarily autologous tissue for their patients, half would still choose expanders for their own surgery.