Question

A patient is admitted to the hospital and is scheduled to have a modified radical mastectomy. The patient asks the nurse about the surgical procedure. Which of the following explanations should the nurse give?

a - only the tissue is removed, leaving all the muscles and lymph nodes
b - the breast, axillary nodes and superior apical nodes are removed but he muscles are preserved.
c - the breast, axillary nodes, and the major and minor pectoral muscles are preserved.
d - The sternum will be split and lymph nodes will be dissected from the mediatinum

Answer 1

The nurse should explain that a modified radical mastectomy involves removal of the breast and most axillary lymph nodes, with preservation of the pectoral muscles.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct explanation for a modified radical mastectomy, which should be provided by the nurse, is that during this procedure, the breast, most of the axillary lymph nodes, and sometimes part of the chest wall muscles under the breast are removed, but the major pectoral muscles are preserved. This surgical treatment is typically offered to patients with invasive breast cancer to remove the cancerous tissue and examine or prevent the spread of cancer to the lymph nodes. It is important to note that in most cases of a modified radical mastectomy, the muscles are left intact, unlike with a radical mastectomy where more tissue and muscles are removed.