Surgical Delay of the Nipple–Areolar Complex: A Powerful Technique to Maximize Nipple Viability Following Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy

Objectives. Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) improves cosmetic outcome of mastectomy, but many patients are not candidates for this procedure because of concerns about nipple-areolar viability. Surgical delay is a technique that has been used for more than 400 years to improve survival of skin flaps. We used a surgical delay procedure to improve nipple viability in patients who were identified to be at high risk for nipple necrosis following NSM.