HEALTH
Mace, Diaz bring ‘tummy tuck flap’ to Coast Dr. Paul Mace has combined his experience and expertise with Dr. Michael Diaz to offer a breast reconstruction procedure locally known as the “tummy tuck flap.” Dr. Mace and Dr. Diaz, a board-certified plastic surgeon, were aware of an advanced reconstructive procedure using the Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator flap and worked together to bring it to the Coast. Dr. Mace is a board-certified general surgeon who has been in practice in Gulfport since 1997. As a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Breast Society, he has a special interest in the treatment of breast disease and breast cancer. Over the past 20 years in practice, he has seen significant advances in the surgical treatment of breast cancer. In a DIEP flap, fat, skin, and blood vessels are cut from “When I the wall of the lower belly and first started my moved up to your chest to practice,” recalls rebuild the breast. Mace, “we were evolving away from the disfigurement of the old fashion modified radical mastectomy to breast conservation with lumpectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and radiation. At that time, our reconstructive options typically involved multistage operations, with tissue expanders and implants, or large operations with TRAM flaps where we transferred skin, fatty tissue, and muscle from the abdominal wall to reconstruct the breast. Those operations would adequately reconstruct the breast mound, however, the cosmetic appearance of the end result left much to be desired.” Over the past 10 years, “we have evolved into nipple sparing mastectomies, which preserves the skin envelope, nipple, and areola, providing a much better platform for reconstruction and a much better cosmetic result,” Dr. Mace says. “Although single-stage nipple sparing mastectomies with implant reconstruction was a vast improvement over previous treatment options, there were potential drawbacks related to scar tissue developing around the implants, as well as the durability of implants over the long-term. This was especially relevant to women in their
30s and 40s who were being treated for breast cancer. Describing the procedure, Dr. Mace says, “The DIEP flap, also known as the ‘tummy tuck flap’, is a revolutionary breast reconstruction procedure using a patient’s abdominal fat to reconstruct the breasts. The procedure removes the excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen without muscle sacrifice. This procedure differs from other flap surgeries, such as a TRAM flap, which sacrifice part or all of the rectus abdominis muscle (six-pack muscle) causing core strength weakness, abdominal wall hernias, or bulges. With the DIEP flap, no muscle is removed, allowing for both a quicker recovery time and the ability to maintain core strength. When combined with a nipple sparing, or skin sparing technique for removing breast tissue, the DIEP flap reconstruction results and superior cosmetic appearance, without the need for artificial material such as implants or tissue expanders.” Dr. Mace and Dr. Diaz are currently the only surgical team in Mississippi offering this revolutionary procedure to their patients. They recognize the importance of treating the breast cancer while restoring their patient’s sense of self, body image, and wholeness. “If you have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer, have had previous breast cancer surgery without reconstruction, had a failed or unsatisfactory reconstruction with implants, or have a BRCA mutation with a high risk for future breast cancer, you may be a candidate for DIEP flap reconstruction,” Dr. Mace says.
Dr. Paul Mace