Minimally invasive surgical treatment of gynecomastia

  Gynecomastia is a common condition in today’s society and can usually only be corrected radically through surgery. The following pictures of actual surgical cases by Dr. Chunjun Liu illustrate the minimally invasive surgical procedure and results of gynecomastia.  The following is a typical case of a 23-year-old young man who has been suffering from gynecomastia for 6 years and has tried various medications and exercises, but his breasts are still “firm”. He underwent a combination of glandular excision and chest wall liposuction. The surgery removed the enlarged gland and fat through a semicircular incision under the areola and shaped the breasts with liposuction, restoring them to their normal male flatness.  On the left is a preoperative photo, which shows the feminine appearance of the breasts and the inframammary fold (the fold of skin under the breasts). On the right side is the photo 1 month after surgery, the semicircular incision under the areola has not yet completely returned to normal. The incision usually recovers completely 3-6 months after surgery, usually leaving only a white incision line of 1mm in width, with no obvious scar growth. The enlarged breast disappears after surgery and the inframammary fold disappears, which will be clearer in the side photo.  This is the side photo, the left side is before the surgery, you can clearly see the inframammary fold wall, the breast obviously protrudes from the chest; the right side is the photo 1 month after the surgery, the breast restores the flat shape.  This is the gland removed during the surgery (about 120 grams on each side) and the fatty tissue aspirated (about 500 ml). The mass of the gland removed and the amount of fat aspirated will vary from case to case due to the degree of glandular hyperplasia and obesity, with some cases having a greater proportion of glands and some cases having a greater proportion of fat. The surgery effectively removes the glands and fat that will cause breast enlargement, so the protrusion of the breast will be really improved.  Although the surgical incision is small, the actual surgical area is relatively large and includes the entire breast enlargement area. Therefore, effective bandaging and compression is required at the end of the surgery and in the early postoperative period to reduce bleeding and exudation. The left side is after the cotton pad and chest strap bandage at the end of surgery, and the right eye is wearing an elastic medical on top of the left picture. About 1 week after surgery patients can purchase an elastic fitted undershirt in their size according to their chest circumference and wear it for 1 month to help recovery while minimizing strenuous activity of the upper extremities. Normal upper limb activities and physical exercise can be started after 1 month post-operatively. Usually, sensation of the nipple and areola will gradually return to normal 3-6 months after surgery.  We hope that this case presentation will provide some information about gynecomastia for patients who need it.