Short presentation of DIEP and SIEA flaps

The adipocutaneous tissue from the lower abdomen remains the most commonly used donor site in autologous breast reconstruction following mastectomy. There is current trend from conventional TRAM free flap toward perforator and muscle sparing flaps use. DIEP free flap preserves the rectus abdominis muscle but nevertheless demands dissection of the pedicle and thus at least some violation of the abdominal wall muscle integrity. This can in turn weaken the abdominal wall although in much smaller extent than conventional TRAM flap harvest. For this reason we always examine the presence of the superficial epigastric…