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DIEP Flap

Deep inferior epigastric perforator flap. Uses skin and fat from the lower abdomen while sparing the rectus abdominis muscle. The small vessels supplying the tissue are dissected out through the muscle, then reconnected to vessels in the chest under a microscope. Because the muscle is preserved, there is a lower risk of abdominal weakness than with a TRAM flap.

Sources: American Society of Plastic Surgeons; National Cancer Institute; American Cancer Society.