Mammaplasty with L-incision

The cutaneous sequelae resulting from mastopexy and reduction mammaplasty are serious drawbacks for patients, particularly young women, and physicians who are dissatisfied with extensive postoperative scarring.

The author reports on an L-incision technique that involves a base resection with an upper transposition of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) to yield good shape and projection, short scars, and preservation of lactation.

Preoperative markings were made to aid estimation of the amount of breast tissue to be excised, to establish anatomic landmarks ensuring breast symmetry, and to position the scars. Breast reduction was performed by means of perpendicular excision of the lower pole and transverse amputation of the base from the pectoral aspect of the breast. In wider breasts, a vertical keel was excised to decrease the circumference of the base. In mastopexy, the lower pole was preserved as a superiorly based flap and used to fill the upper pole. The new site of the NAC was marked bilaterally, slightly lower than the apex of the new mammary cone, with the downward rotation of the breast during the early postoperative period taken into consideration.

The described L-incision procedure was performed in more than 500 patients between 1996 and 2003, with good results and a low rate of complications. Nipple sensitivity was generally preserved unless lesions of the lateral branches of the intercostal nerves were present. No lactation problems were reported by the 9 patients who breastfed babies after undergoing surgery. Twenty-seven patients underwent revision procedures to correct scar hypertrophy, areolar enlargement, asymmetry, persistent ptosis, or correction of "dog-ear."

The L-incision technique is a safe, reliable procedure that results in good breast shape and projection with inconspicuous scars. It can be used in a wide variety of applications, including correction of breast hypertrophy, ptosis, and asymmetries.