Vicente Comet, specialist doctor in General and Digestive System Surgery at HLA Montpellier.
Breast pathology, that of the digestive system or that of the thyroid gland are part of the most frequent activity within General Surgery. Breast surgery is not a life-threatening surgery, apart from the usual ones derived from anesthesia or pathologies associated with the age of the patients. Vicente Comet, a specialist in General and Digestive System Surgery, with experience in Oncological Breast Surgery, stresses that the true complexity of these interventions is marked by the need to provide patients with a less harmful surgery, that obtains aesthetic results that are not detrimental to the basic objective: to eliminate cancer. “For this it has been Early diagnosis is essential find minimal lesions that have allowed us to perform breast-conserving surgery”, says the specialist.
The Radiology has revolutionized this field, locating and marking tumors that are now called “not palpable” for removal in the operating room. As Comet explains, mammography, ultrasound, CT and MRI are the diagnostic methods on which the surgeon relies the most. “Pathological anatomy, by studying the biopsied tissues, will allow us to confirm the diagnosis and guide us on the most appropriate treatment,” he adds.
What is the role of Nuclear Medicine and Plastic Surgery in breast cancer?
In breast surgery, various specialties come together whose objective is to treat the patient, considerably reducing the aggressiveness of the interventions. “The collaboration of specialists in Nuclear medicine that help us to locate in the operating room axillary ganglia that might be affected by the spread of the disease, allows us to avoid removal of all the lymph nodes in the armpit, since not all of them will be affected, which will reduce the appearance of lymphedema in the arms, that is, the increase in the size of the arm due to difficulty in lymphatic drainage”, adds Comet.
On the other hand, the importance of having specialists in Plastic surgery is basic in more complex cases and in those patients with genetic studies whose possibility of suffering from cancer is greater. With these specialists you can address the breast removal and reconstruction in the same surgical process, both to treat and prevent cancer.
Latest advances in the treatment of breast cancer
The possibility of carrying out, in certain cases, radioterapia intraoperatoria of the surgical area, is another of the Big steps in the treatment of these cancers, as it will benefit the patient, who will not have to attend these radiotherapy sessions later by traveling to hospitals.
Currently, breast-conserving surgery with minimal intervention at the axillary level and the use of drains that are quickly removed allows the stay in hospitalization does not exceed 24 hours and that patients do not present significant postoperative pain. “Breast surgeries that entail the need for prosthetic reconstructions or with muscle flaps, can lengthen this hospitalization time in which analgesia and drainage function will be controlled,” the doctor points out.
The HLA Montpellier Clinic, a benchmark in Aragonese private healthcare, has been adapting and updating itself according to the needs of professionals. “I would like to emphasize the great ease of collaboration that exists between the different specialties, which results in a great rapid diagnosis and treatment of our patients, in addition to the professional and human quality of the staff, which ensures that the patient receives the best possible care and makes their stay more pleasant”, says Comet.
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