Introduction:
A lumpectomy is a procedure for breast cancer and other breast disorders. Lumpectomy is also known as breast-conserving surgery, partial mastectomy, quadrantectomy, and segmental mastectomy. Apart from mastectomy, they extract the tumor only with a portion of the breast tissue near it and do not remove the entire breast. There are better outcomes for lumpectomy, it includes reduced hospital stay, and it can even be done with local anesthesia.
What Is Lumpectomy?
Lumpectomy is likewise known as a breast-conserving procedure, also called wide local excision, as in this, only a part of the breast tissue is extracted. But in the mastectomy procedure, the whole breast tissue is extracted. In the lumpectomy approach, the surgeon extracts cancer or additional anomalous tissue and removes a part of the healthy tissue near it. This guarantees the complete removal of the abnormal tissue. It is a therapy for premature-stage cancer in the breast. Periodically this procedure is utilized to find cancer. Thus, it is used as a diagnostic procedure. When a lumpectomy is conducted for cancer removal, it is often accompanied by radiation treatment to the site to lessen the possibility of cancer relapse.
What Are the Indications of Lumpectomy?
The purpose of this procedure is to extract cancer and additional irregular tissue along with preserving the formation of the breast. Analyses reveal that a breast-conserving procedure accompanied by radiation treatment is more productive in controlling the cancer relapse in the breast than the expulsion of the whole breast, called mastectomy, for the initial stage of cancer. If a biopsy reveals cancer, which is small in size and the initial stage of formation, the lumpectomy is utilized to extract noncancerous or precancerous breast irregularities.
-
The patient has a single tumor that is small in size and involves a lesion smaller than four centimeters in circumference diameter.
-
The patient has adequate tissue, so extracting the nearby tissue would not affect the breast.
-
Patients who are medically capable of acquiring the procedure and also capable of bearing the radiation therapy.
-
Lumpectomy is indicated in conditions like scleroderma- A disorder that hardens the tissues of the breast. Thus, it is difficult to heal after surgery. Lupus is an inflammatory disorder. In this condition, radiation therapy will cause more complications.
What Are the Contraindications of Lumpectomy?
-
Patients who have already done radiation therapy in the breast, and thus additional interventions are difficult.
-
Patients with cancer have already spread to the whole tissues of the breast and the overlying skin. Therefore, this procedure is not enough or effective to extract cancer.
-
The tumor size is large, and the patient has smaller breasts.
-
There are multiple tumors present in different positions of the breast. Thus, removing the whole tumor in a single procedure is impossible. In addition, multiple incisions will distort the structure of the breast after the procedure.
What Are the Risks Associated With Lumpectomy?
A few complications following a lumpectomy include exuding blood, microbial infection, tenderness, transient swelling, the appearance of tough scar tissue at the site of operation, and alteration in the formation and impression of the breast, especially if a considerable quantity is deducted.
How Is Pre-evaluation Done for Lumpectomy?
This procedure is accomplished in an outpatient strategy; thus, the patient can leave the hospital on the day of surgery itself. Preoperative history should be thoroughly taken, and medical history should include the medicines or supplements taken by the patient that would impact the surgical procedure. For example, every patient undergoing surgery should quit the intake of aspirin or any other medication that can thin the blood. It should be stopped at least one week before the surgery to prevent bleeding complications; fasting is accomplished eight hours before the surgery. This is done if the patient is going for general anesthesia; accompany a bystander with the patient. Thus, postoperative care can be given efficiently.
How Is Lumpectomy Procedure Performed?
The initial step of this procedure involves finding the right location of the affected site of the breast. For this, imaging and diagnostic procedures are done by the surgeon. This includes mammograms and ultrasounds, which are used to localize the tumor. Once localization is achieved, the surgeon inserts a lead wire, a small needle, or a tiny radioactive seed. These are used as a trace to locate the accurate location of the lesion to be extracted in the surgery. A breast lump can be easily palpated. The localization step can be omitted because the lesion can be easily extracted here. The lymph nodes close to the armpit are also removed if the cancer extends outside the breast. Operation done to extract a periodic lymph node is usually suggested for initial-stage breast cancer. In some cases, the doctor will suggest extracting multiple lymph nodes near the armpit, called axillary lymph node dissection.
Removal of lymph nodes includes:
-
Sentinel Node Biopsy- This technique extracts a few nodes where the affected disease drains. The removed tissue is diagnosed with cancer. Before the operation, a radioactive material or blue dye is given into the region near the affected site, the skin beyond the affected area. This pigment will traverse to the sentinel node, permitting identification and extraction.
-
Axillary Lymph Node Dissection- In this technique, they extract multiple lymph nodes in the armpit.
The procedure of a lumpectomy, done under general anesthesia, begins with an incision done on the tumor or the region involving a wire. This is done to extract the tumor and adjacent tissues, followed by an analysis of these tissues. Finally, they will seal the incisions with great care to maintain the breast configuration, utilizing sutures. Followed by placing thin adhesive strips to preserve it till it heals.
Conclusion:
A lumpectomy is a procedure done to remove only a portion of the breast, that is, the affected area of the breast. Thus, this procedure is called the breast-conserving procedure. This procedure is done if the tumor is small in size and does not affect significant areas of the breast. There are a few complications in this procedure. The surgeon will decide on the associated lumpectomy by considering certain factors. After this procedure, patients can leave the hospital on the same day. The recovery phase is faster with this procedure.
