GalaFLEX Surgical Scaffold for Plastic or Reconstructive Surgery

Another important technique to point out from the case that we’ve recently posted about(please see our grid @dreffiepolitis ), is the use of Galaflex Ravioli construct⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣.⁣⁣

The GalaFLEX Scaffold (Galatea Surgical, Inc., Lexington, MA) for plastic and reconstructive surgery belongs to a new generation of products for soft tissue reinforcement made from poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB)⁣. ⁣

It is comprised of high-strength, resorbable P4HB monofilament fibers. It is a knitted macroporous scaffold intended to elevate, reinforce, and repair soft tissue. The scaffold acts as a lattice for new tissue growth, which is rapidly vascularized and becomes fully integrated with adjacent tissue as the fibers resorb.⁣

The “ravioli” technique involves using 2 pieces of extra thick ADM to completely wrap the TE/implant. The 2 pieces of ADM are cut to the size of the TE/implant with 1 piece covering the anterior and the other covering the posterior surface of the TE/implant.⁣⁣

Acellular dermal matrix (ADM) is a soft connective tissue graft generated by a decellularization process that preserves the intact extracellular skin matrix. Upon implantation, this structure serves as a scaffold for donor-side cells to facilitate subsequent incorporation and revascularization. In breast reconstruction, ADM is used mainly for lower pole coverage and the shaping of a new breast. It helps control the positioning of the implant in the inframammary fold, and prevents the formation of contractile pseudocapsule around the breast implant.⁣⁣

The “ravioli” construct is something Dr. Stephen Sigalov came up with which involves performing a 360 degree wrap of the implant with Galaflex to stabilize the implant in the breast pocket given the normal landmarks are obliterated with the mastectomy. The Galaflex or P4HB totally resorbs (turns in CO2 and H20) in 18-24 months and is replaced by the patients own Type 1 collagen to provide long lasting implant support. Type 1 collagen is the strongest collagen in the body. This prevents issues such as stretch, bottoming out, malposition, implant flipping etc. ⁣⁣