What should you know about a Mentor tissue expander?

During reconstructive surgery, the expander is positioned beneath chest tissue or muscle. A valve permits the surgeon or trained clinician to add sterile fluid at follow-up visits. Each adjustment gradually stretches the surrounding tissues, helping prepare the shape and space needed for the next stage.

The device is selected after considering skin quality, chest anatomy, prior cancer treatment, healing, and the desired reconstruction. It may feel firm and can make the chest feel tight after an appointment. It is a temporary part of reconstruction rather than a promise of a particular final appearance.

Keep expansion appointments and describe sensations precisely: pressure, pulling, sharp pain, numbness, or burning can guide the team’s next decision. Protect the incision as directed, take prescribed medicines as advised, and gradually resume movement within the limits given by the surgical team.

Before surgery, ask about the planned fill schedule, scar location, possible later exchange, and how radiotherapy or wound healing could affect timing. See [Tissue Expander](/materials/tissue-expander/) and [Breast Reconstruction](/treatments/surgical-oncology/breast-reconstruction/) for related explanations.

Report fever, increasing redness, warmth, drainage, wound separation, sudden swelling, fluid leakage, or a device that appears to have shifted. Seek urgent medical help for severe breathing difficulty, chest pain, or collapse.

What position and fill method are planned? Which symptoms are expected after adjustment? How will you check the skin and wound? When may I return to work, driving, and exercise? What will determine the timing and type of the next reconstruction?