Listeners of the DiepCJourney podcast are familiar with the DIEP flap breast reconstruction procedure where the abdominal skin, tissue, and underlying blood vessels are used to replace the breast tissue lost due to mastectomy after being affected by breast cancer. On this episode we are going to discuss the “stacked flap” in breast reconstruction.

I’m speaking with Dr. Tim Matatov of Southwest Breast and Aesthetics in Phoenix, AZ. He is a board-certified plastic surgeon who is specifically trained in microsurgery. It is the specialty of microsurgery that is required to perform a stacked flap procedure. Dr. Matatov and his team perform these and why I reached out to him for this interview.

Dr. Matatov tells us the original definition of a stacked flap is that you put one flap on top of the other and place those two flaps into a surgical site, in this instance, the breast area to recreate a breast after mastectomy.

It has evolved to a flap from the abdomen, a bipedicle flap with two blood vessels that are connected to the entire abdomen and taken as one piece. He points out that at his practice it is used for skin resurfacing in the radiated patient where a lot of the damaged tissue would have to be removed. This type of flap provides enough skin to repair the area damaged and needing repair from radiation.

Another purpose for a stacked flap is in the setting of a single mastectomy; when a patient chooses to remove only one breast and keep the other and there is not enough tissue from a single flap from the back, thigh, or abdomen. In this instance, the stacked flap provides the volume needed to achieve symmetry with the existing breast. 

Dr. Matatov goes on to tell us where on the body theses blood and tissue sources are from as well as what the recovery looks like for patients.

Be sure to check out Dr. Matatov's podcast on Blood Vessels in Breast Reconstruction here:

https://diepcjourney.libsyn.com/blood-vessels-in-breast-reconstruction

Connect with Dr. Matatov and his practice on these platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southwestbreast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWBreast