Stacked-DIEP Flap (also called a double DIEP Flap) has provided the opportunity for breast reconstruction employing abdominal tissue for women who would have previously not been candidates.
The Stacked-DIEP flap allows a breast to be reconstructed with significantly more tissue than can be obtained with either a single DIEP Flap or a TRAM Flap. This sophisticated microsurgical procedure can be an option, for example, for a thin woman who needs reconstruction of only one breast. Women who have been told that they are not candidates for a TRAM Flap or a DIEP Flap because they “do not have enough tissue”, or because they have a vertical mid-line scar, may be candidates for a Stacked-DIEP flap reconstruction.
The Stacked-DIEP Flap procedure uses two DIEP flaps (one DIEP flap from each side of the abdomen) to reconstruct a single breast, providing greater volume to the reconstructed breast by using more abdominal fatty tissue than the single DIEP flap breast reconstruction procedure. As is the case for all perforator flaps used in breast reconstruction, no muscle is sacrificed with this procedure. After the tissue is transferred to the chest, the blood vessels that supply the tissue of each of the flaps are connected to vessels at the recipient site using microsurgical techniques. The two flaps are then “stacked” and sculpted to restore the breast removed by mastectomy. Recovery is the same as it would be for a DIEP flap procedure.
Risks & Complications
All patients must understand and accept that no surgical procedure is absolutely free from risk. For further information concerning the risks and complications associated with Autologous Breast Reconstruction, please refer to Risks and Complications of Autologous Breast Reconstruction.
