Mastectomy

Alternative Names: Breast removal surgery; Subcutaneous mastectomy; Total mastectomy; Simple mastectomy; Modified radical mastectomy

A mastectomy is surgery to remove the entire breast. It is usually done to treat breast cancer.

Description of Procedure

You will be given general anesthesia (unconscious and pain-free). The surgeon will make a cut in your breast:

• For a subcutaneous mastectomy, the surgeon removes the entire breast but leaves the nipple and areola (the pigmented circle around the nipple) in place.
• For a total or simple mastectomy, the surgeon cuts breast tissue free from the skin and muscle and removes it. The nipple and the areola are also removed. The surgeon may do a biopsy of lymph nodes in the underarm area to see if the cancer has spread.
• For a modified radical mastectomy, the surgeon removes the entire breast along with some of the lymph nodes underneath the arm.
• For a radical mastectomy, the surgeon removes the overlying skin, all of the lymph nodes underneath the arm, and the chest muscles. This surgery is rarely done.
• The skin is closed with sutures (stitches).

One or two small plastic drains or tubes are usually left in your chest to remove extra fluid from where the breast tissue used to be.

A plastic surgeon may be able to reconstruct the breast (with artificial implants or tissue from your own body) during the same operation. You may also choose to have reconstruction later.

See also:

• Breast reconstruction - implants
• Breast reconstruction - natural tissue

Mastectomy generally takes 2 to 3 hours.

Risks of Mastectomy

Risks for any surgery are:

• Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
• Blood loss
• Breathing problems
• Infection, including in the surgical wound, lungs (pneumonia), bladder, or kidney
• Heart attack or stroke during surgery
• Reactions to medications

Scabbing, blistering, or skin loss along the edge of the surgical cut may occur.

Risks when more invasive surgery, such as a radical mastectomy, is done are:

• Shoulder pain and stiffness. You may also feel pins and needles where the breast used to be and underneath the arm.
• Swelling of the arm (called lymphedema) on the same side as the breast that is removed. This swelling is not common, but it can be an ongoing problem.
• Damage to nerves that go to the muscles of the arm, back, and chest wall.

Female Breast	Mastectomy - series	Breast reconstruction - series

Review Date: 1/28/2011
Reviewed By: Debra G. Wechter, MD, FACS, General Surgery practice specializing in breast cancer, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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