Local charities gift new equipment for breast reconstruction surgeries | News

Thanks to the support and fundraising efforts of two local charities including the Trust’s own MY Hospitals Charity, patients are now benefitting from a new piece of specialist equipment that improves breast reconstruction surgery at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.

Patients like Lindsay Rowe, who recently praised the team responsible for her operation saying she is ‘very grateful’ for the surgery.

She had a free flap procedure at Pinderfields Hospital, with surgeons opting to use the advanced new equipment for the first time. 

With a free flap reconstruction, the surgeon takes a flap of tissue from another part of the body, removes it from its blood supply, moves it to the chest, then connects it to a new blood supply.

Lindsay first battled cancer in July 2019 when she had a mastectomy and a breast implant. However, the implant recently encapsulated, and Lindsay decided to have free flap breast reconstruction surgery.

An encapsulated breast implant is a condition in which a thick capsule of scar tissue forms around a breast implant, causing it to become hard.

Surgeons used the gifted specialist piece of equipment, that is called an ICG machine, to monitor the blood flow in her skin and identify the healthiest tissue to use for the breast reconstruction.

Lindsay said: “I’m happy with the results and to be the first patient operated on using the new charity funded equipment is brilliant. I’m very grateful to everyone who cared for me.”

None of this would have been possible without the kind donations of local people and businesses to MY Hospitals Charity and Dr Jackson’s Cancer Fund.

She added: “ I’m thankful to everyone who helped raise funds and donated to such a wonderful cause. This will change people’s lives forever.”

The Surgery was carried out by the plastic surgery breast microsurgery team led by Mr Will Holmes and Nikos Lymperopoulos.

Will said: “I’m glad Lindsay’s surgery went well, and that she’s pleased with the results. This equipment really improves patient outcomes for free flap breast reconstruction surgery, and I’d like to say thank you to the charities for fundraising and for everyone’s donations.”

The benefits of using an ICG machine for free flap breast reconstruction surgery include reduced unplanned readmission rates, the ability to do a more bespoke breast reconstruction, and less delay to further therapy.