Plastic and reconstructive surgical services have been available at Decatur General Hospital since August 1993.
Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is an area in which plastic and reconstructive techniques are greatly benefiting our cancer patients at Decatur General Hospital. We have completed numerous total breast reconstructions over the past eight years. We continue to see a trend toward immediate breast reconstruction at the time of mastectomy. Immediate reconstruction requires close communication and coordination of care between general surgery and plastic surgery. I recently reviewed a specific subset of reconstruction patients. These were 28 patients who were treated with skin-sparing mastectomies and immediate TRAM flap breast reconstruction. The review showed that in terms of patient selection, success rate and complication rate, our results are as good or better than what is reported in the national literature. Mastectomy patients and breast reconstructive patients are receiving excellent postoperative care and postoperative education from the nursing staff in the new Women's Center. The total scope of breast cancer care provided at our institution, from diagnosis, to treatment, to reconstruction rivals that of larger academic centers.
In conjunction with the Department of Pathology, we now have a substantial experience with staged excisions of large facial skin cancers using the specialized technique of micrographic control of surgical margins. Because this technique involves detailed attention to orientation, mapping and peripheral tangential sectioning, it can achieve 99 percent cure rates while preserving the maximum amount of local normal tissue. It facilitates facial reconstructive procedures that allow optimal cosmetic results for patients with facial skin cancer. We have been offering this technique for the past eight years and we had only one skin cancer recurrence thus far. Therefore, we are proud that we can match the 99 percent cure rates that are published in the national literature.
Gordon M. Telepun, MD
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery