THE INTERNAL MAMMARY ARTERY AND VEIN AS A RECIPIENT SITE FOR FREE-FLAP BREAST RECONSTRUCTION - A REPORT OF 110 CONSECUTIVE CASES

The most common recipient site for free-flap breast reconstruction is the subscapular system. Because of a number of problems we encountered using this recipient site, we became interested in revisiting the int ernal mammary vessels. This paper reports the use of the internal mamm ary artery and vein as a recipient site in 110 consecutive cases of br east reconstruction in 87 patients. We also report the technical detai ls of recipient-vessel dissection and vessel size in our series. Compl ications encountered in the series are discussed, and the advantages o f using the internal mammary vessels are enumerated. Our experience of a 99 percent successful flap transfer rate supports the reliability o f these recipient vessels in breast reconstructions.