Do you need a referral for breast reconstruction?

A breast surgeon, oncologist or general doctor can usually refer you to a plastic or reconstructive surgeon. Some centres coordinate the consultation within the breast cancer team, while others accept a direct request, so confirm the booking process with the chosen service.

A reconstructive consultation is a chance to discuss goals and feasible techniques; it does not commit you to an operation. The surgeon considers the planned or previous breast surgery, available body tissue, general health, smoking or nicotine use, previous radiotherapy and other cancer treatment.

Reconstruction may use an implant, your own tissue or a combination. Timing can be immediate with breast surgery or delayed until later, depending on treatment needs and personal preference. Choosing no reconstruction or using an external breast form are also valid options.

Ask your breast care team whether reconstructive planning can happen alongside cancer surgery planning. If you are contacting a separate clinic, check whether it needs a formal referral and which operation, pathology, imaging and treatment records should be sent.

Prepare a medicine and allergy list and note previous chest operations, radiotherapy and conditions that affect healing. Consider what matters most to you, such as operation timing, avoiding an implant, using your own tissue, preserving strength in a donor area or limiting recovery demands.

After reconstruction, contact the surgical team urgently for a breast or donor area that rapidly becomes more swollen, unusually firm, pale, dusky, cold or increasingly painful, or for fluid leaking from the wound. These changes can require prompt examination.

Seek emergency help for severe breathing difficulty, chest pain, collapse or sudden confusion. Fever, spreading redness, worsening warmth, pus, an opening wound or new calf swelling also needs prompt clinical advice rather than waiting for a routine follow-up.

Ask which methods fit your treatment plan, where scars and any donor site would be, what sensation and symmetry you might expect, and whether later procedures may be considered. Discuss recovery restrictions, implant monitoring where relevant, effects on future breast imaging, and the exact number to call if the reconstructed breast changes after discharge.