The operation involves isolating and extracting skin, tissue, fat and a small section of muscle from the inner thigh and transplanting it in place of the original breast. It is shaped to resemble the original breast, and then, through an intricate microsurgical process, blood vessels are then connected between the chest and the flap, allowing blood flow to be reconnected to the newly reconstructed breast.

My specialty is microsurgery and I have done a year’s fellowship in microsurgical reconstruction at Charing Cross, followed by cosmetic and reconstructive surgery fellowships at leading reconstructive centres in Australia and North America.

Recovery after a TMG Flaps procedure

The operation itself takes around five hours and patients should expect to remain in hospital for around one week afterwards. Every breast reconstruction procedure I perform is carefully planned beforehand with scans if necessary, as this reduces recovery time. The aim is to have the patient fully mobilised and discharged as quickly as possible as clinical evidence supports enhanced recovery in terms of potential complications.

During the days and weeks following the operation, any bruising, swelling and pain will gradually subside, and you’ll be prescribed painkillers to help mitigate this. Once you are home, recovery tends to be between four to six weeks.

At the donor site on your thigh, the wound will also need time to heal fully and should be covered with a sterile dressing until it has closed. It is sometimes recommended to wear compression shorts during the recovery period to minimise the risk of fluid building up inside the wound. Occasionally, some women report a loss of senstivity at the donor site once the incision has healed, although this side effect rarely outweighs the benefit of being able to naturally reconstruct the breast from the patient’s own tissue cells.

I often combine this procedure with lipofilling or fat transfer to smooth out the newly-reshaped breasts.