Breast cancer is common in Australia, and breast reconstruction has become an essential part of a woman’s treatment plan. It should always be discussed when breast cancer surgery is required.

A partial or total mastectomy may benefit from reconstruction, using a woman’s own tissues, carefully selected breast implants or a combination of both. Increasingly, fat transfer is being used as reconstructive tool, using liposuction to remove fat and injection to add it to the reconstructed breast.

Dr Chauhan is experienced in all forms of breast reconstruction including microsurgical tissue transfer. This includes the DIEP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator) flap - abdominal tissue and PAP (Profunda Artery Perforator) flap - using tissue form the inner thigh. Both of these flaps spare the muscle through perforator dissection, allowing a return to full function.

Implant reconstruction is usually performed in the pre-pectoral position (in front of the chest muscles) in order to preserve normal function. This can be a single stage (Direct-To-Implant) procedure when appropriate, or in two stages, using a tissue expander initially, followed by a permanent implant at a second operation.

Nasal reconstruction is one of the oldest techniques in plastic surgery. The nose is challenging to rebuild because it has both functional and aesthetic elements each with their own difficulties.

In complex reconstruction of the nose, multiple surgeries are often used to achieve the best results.

Dr Chauhan has developed his techniques of nasal reconstruction over a number of years and from learning from the world’s best. It is an area of plastic surgery he is deeply passionate about.

The head and neck is often affected by advanced skin and mucosal cancers. Resection surgery often leaves very devastating defects which require a great deal of skill and patience to reconstruct.

Previous treatment with radiation creates a challenge because the tissues are never the same afterwards and are prone to delayed healing.

Dr Chauhan has extensive experience in reconstructive surgery of the perineum such as gynaecological cancers and major pelvic colorectal surgery.

For urological problems such as urethral structures and reconstruction, Dr Chauhan has published a number of articles describing new surgical techniques.