Rome - The use of tissues of animal origin for immediate
breast reconstruction after a mastectomy is one of the latest
developments in the oncological surgery sector. It was
introduced in Europe in 2009, but has only started to spread in
Italy over the last year. This cutting-edge technique is still
underused, even though it makes it possible to reduce
complications. This is what emerged at the Make Better Summit
conference organised by Acelity, a company specialised in
therapeutic solutions for the management of wounds. According to
the Cancer Registry (Registro Tumori) over 16,000 mastectomies
are performed every year in Italy, with an incidence of one
every 1,850 women. "Normally the procedure is split into two
parts, the removal and the reconstruction, with a period of
between four and six months between one phase and the other,
during which the tissue reforms," explained Laura Piccinini, the
president of Acelity. She said that, with the immediate
reconstruction technique used in 12% of mastectomies, "there are
savings in terms of the psychological trauma for women and in
social costs, such as psychological support and work absences".
Nevertheless, autologous tissue or synthetic tissue is generally
used. But Piccinini added that in the first case "the patient
must undergo delicate operations to remover large sections of
tissue from other parts of the body. In the second case, it's
material that does not allow cellular regeneration. These
problems are avoidable with the use of tissue of animal origin".
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