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Regardless of progress in surgical procedures and breast implant technology, augmentation mammaplasty remains a technique in development. The decision as to the plane of placement and which type of implant to use is an exercise in balancing a number of objective and subjective factors. Aesthetic expectations, patient's physical individuality, surgeon's experience, lifestyle factors and implant — soft tissue relations, all influence the decision process, surgical planning and outcome [5, 12, 13]. To date, there is no consensus concerning the best procedure. The main advantages of the technique should include safety, reproducibility and acceptable complication rates. Probably, these goals are not achievable by any single procedure and each technique has advantages and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern breast-conserving surgery is firmly established as a safe option for most women with early breast cancer [11, 13]. The standard treatment is to accomplish a satisfactory aesthetic result with minimal postoperative complications [1, 3-7]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast reconstruction with autogenous tissue is a standard technique and a well-established procedure in many advanced breast cancer centers. Among the technical alternatives, abdominal flaps have been selected as the option of choice to produce the most natural results [1]-[10]. In order to maintain blood supply to the skin and the subcutaneous tissue, part of one or both rectus abdominis muscles must be harvested in the myocutaneous flaps. Regardless of the cosmetic benefits, some questions have been raised concerning the rectus abdominis muscle resection [1]-[6]. In recent years, the progress in microsurgical technique as well as a better understanding of skin anatomy has proved that muscle tissue itself is not required as long as perforator vessels are preserved. Thus, the introduction of the concept of perforator flaps associated with the development of the deep inferior epigastric perforator flap (DIEP) has brought new modifications to the conventional abdominal flaps [1, 3, 5-10]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]