How is anesthesia administered for a modified radical mastectomy?

Answer

Anesthesia

General anesthesia is used without a neuromuscular blocking agent for the mastectomy and axillary dissection. If the patient is undergoing immediate breast reconstruction at the same time as the mastectomy, a paralytic is often used after completion of the axillary lymph node dissection.

A thoracic paravertebral block may also be used to provide both procedural and postprocedural analgesic effects, leading to a reduction in postoperative pain both immediately and over the following 24 hours.^[18]

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Media Gallery

Anatomy markings prior to mastectomy.
Superior flap dissection.
Superior flap dissection up to the pectoralis muscle facia.
Lifting the breast off the pectoralis muscle with the facia in the specimen.
Entering the axilla at the lateral boder of pectoralis major muscle.
Preserving the axillary vein and the thoracodorsal nerve (along with the thoracodorsal vascular bundle) to the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior in the axillary dissection.
Drain placement and skin closing after mastectomy.

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How is anesthesia administered for a modified radical mastectomy?

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