This

DiepCJourney® podcast interview was conducted at the PRMA Plastic Surgery practice in San Antonio during Breast Reconstruction Awareness week. Dr. Chet Nastala discusses PRMA's TruSense® and sensation to the breasts.

With extensive background training and twenty-five years of experience with the team of surgeons at PRMA, Dr. Nastala is particularly interested in the sensation of the breast, nerve repair, and optimizing outcomes for their breast reconstruction patients. They achieve this through ongoing research and improvement in surgical techniques at PRMA.

He discusses the nerve anatomy of the breasts and some of the limitations of the body's own ability to regenerate nerves after they are repaired. Dr. Nastala mentions various modalities of breast cancer treatment that include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, and other biological therapies. He also talks about the possibility of nerve preservation and surgical techniques utilizing this method of improving sensation to the breast when oncologically safe.

He differentiates between the PRMA service mark, TruSense® and using a nerve graft. The TruSense® method signifies the surgeons take the patient's own recipient nerve from the breast and connects it to the donor nerve that is found in the abdominal tissue in a DIEP flap procedure. This procedure is using all the patient's own tissue and nerves.

A nerve graft is a cadaveric, prepackaged material that can be used for both implant and autologous reconstruction. It is sometimes necessary to use to "bridge the gap" in the nerves when there is not enough available from the patient.

The process of regaining sensation does take time. Dr. Nastala explains what can affect the nerves to regenerate, which include age, radiation, diabetes, and smoking. They collaborate with a team of breast surgeons to try and preserve as much of the nerve in the chest area as is oncologically safe and possible so that they can use the TruSense® method to restore sensation to the breast after mastectomy.

Connect with Dr. Nastala on the following platforms:

Instagram PRMA Account: https://www.instagram.com/prmaplasticsurgery/

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