AboutAlan M. Engler, MD, FACS Expertise Dr. Engler has answered over 2700 plastic surgery questions for Allexperts. His expertise is in cosmetic plastic surgery including breast surgery (breast enlargement with implants, breast reduction, breast lifts), liposuction, eyelid surgery, tummy tucks, facelifts etc.
Dr. Engler has been listed as one New York`s Top Doctors, and as "One of the World's Most Famous Aesthetic Surgeons" (Aesthetic Surgery, TASCHEN Books, Angelika Taschen, Editor). He is the author of 4 books, including "BodySculpture" (a best-selling plastic surgery book on breast surgery, liposuction and tummy tucks), "EyeScapes" (Plastic Surgery of the Eyelids), "Restylane," and "The Slim Book of Liposuction."
Dr. Engler has two US Patents for surgical instruments that he's designed, and has appeared on numerous television shows, including The Tyra Banks Show, The Ricki Lake Show (four times), and the Dr. Keith Ablow Show. Videos of his appearances are available on YouTube (SEARCH FOR "DR. ENGLER"). His website is www.bodysculpture.com.
Experience Dr. Alan Engler is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York and the author of BodySculpture - Plastic Surgery of the Body for Men and Women (ISBN 0966382749) one of the top-selling plastic surgery books on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, etc.
Education/Credentials Dr. Engler graduated from Yale University (undergraduate) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (medical school). He did his residency training in General Surgery and, after that, Plastic Surgery, at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York. He is on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Question Dear Sir,
Can a latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction be succesfully reversed, to restore the lat muscle onto the original position? My wife regrets her reconstruction a great deal.
Answer from Dr. Alan Engler
www.bodysculpture.com
Hi Greg,
This is slightly outside my area of expertise but I don't believe it would be possible to fully reverse the procedure. You could, at least in theory, remove the muscle from its current location and try to put it back.
But the issue is more involved than that. Muscles will survive if they have adequate blood supply but in order for them to function they also have to have adequate nerve supply (innervation) and they have to be secure in wherever they're located. Even if the nerve supply can be made to work again, which I don't think is likely, the muscle probably won't hold well enough back in its new position to be functional. It has to contract pretty firmly, and I don't know that the resutured edges will be strong enough to withstand the muscle conctractions.
In sum, I think it's unlikely that this procedure can be reversed to the extent that a functional latissimus dorsi muscle can be recreated.
I am, of course, sorry that your wife had to have the reconstruction in the first place, and that she is now not happy with it. I hope that this helps, and good luck.
