Surgical techniqueElastic stay hooks and self-retaining retractor technique for mastectomy skin flaps
Section snippets
Operative technique
The patient is prepared and draped in supine position, close to the edge of the bed on the operative side, with the ipsilateral arm abducted on an arm board. The operative bed bar must be free to install and fasten the self-retaining retractor’s post on the opposite side of surgical site. After the initial skin incision is made to the subcutaneous tissue along the planned mastectomy skin ellipse, the retractor’s post, the post coupling, a rigid extender, and a horizontal bar are installed. The
Discussion
The use of elastic stay skin hooks and the self-retaining retractor is a very useful technique, especially for a single surgeon carrying out a mastectomy. It permits adequate skin flap retraction and dissection by maintaining constant tension on the skin flaps. As the skin flaps are created, the length of the elastic bands shortens and lifts the flap on continuous, smooth traction. This technique may be also very useful in the context of non-teaching hospital surgical practice, where the
References (4)
- et al.
Oncologic safety of skin-sparing mastectomy
Ann Surg Oncol
(2003) - et al.
Local recurrence after skin-sparing mastectomy: tumor biology or surgical conservatism?
Ann Surg Oncol
(2003)
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