 The breast reconstruction operation was the first of its kind in Britain |
A pioneering operation which could ease the suffering of hundreds of breast cancer patients has been carried out for the first time in Britain. The surgery was performed on a woman in her 40s at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on Tuesday.
Fat taken from the bottom of a woman's buttock was used to reconstruct the breast leaving minimal scarring.
A team led by US surgeon Bob Allen operated on the woman who lost both breasts during cancer treatment.
Natural feel
The technique takes forward an established procedure used in the USA by Dr Allen since 1992 using tissue from the top of the buttock.
Because the breast is rebuilt with tissue from the lower buttock, it avoids damaging actual buttock muscle.
Dr Allen said: "If we make a breast with body fat - body tissue - it is much more natural.
"The nerves slowly grow in, it is warm, it has blood circulating through it, so it feels more like a normal breast to the patient," he said.
The hospital hopes the operation, which takes four to six hours, will now be offered to more women, both at the hospital and nationally.
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