Siba Haykal, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who cares for patients who have had surgery to remove cancer from the breast and other parts of the body. She specializes in reconstruction with microsurgery, an intricate procedure that uses miniaturized instruments to remove tissue from one part of the body and reattach it to another with the goal of restoring form and function.
Microsurgery is the ‘gold standard’ approach to breast reconstruction for women who have had a mastectomy—the removal of a breast—to treat cancer. Dr. Haykal is skilled in performing “free-flap reconstructions” among other techniques, often immediately after a patient’s mastectomy. These reconstructions involve removing a flap of tissue from the abdomen (DIEP)—or the thighs (PAP, TUG) or buttocks (SGAP, IGAP)—from its blood supply and then reattaching it elsewhere, working with vessels that are 2 or 3 millimeters in size.
In addition, Dr. Haykal offers techniques for restoring breast sensation after cancer surgery and immediate lymphatic reconstruction following lymph node dissection, which can lower a patient’s chances of developing lymphedema (chronic swelling caused by excess lymph fluid that can affect women after breast cancer surgery). She has extensive experience in treating lymphedema and offers treatments that include lymphovenous bypass (LVA, LVB), a procedure to create a path for lymphatic fluid to flow away from the arms, and lymph node transplantation (LNT).
Dr Haykal also offers microsurgical treatment for skin cancer, head and neck cancer, and sarcoma, all of which she says involve decision-making on the part of both doctors and patients. “Relationships with our patients are of utmost importance,” she says. “I’m a member of a cancer team where each of us is involved in different steps, and we all get to know our patients and talk to discuss their treatment preferences.” She discusses options as far as reconstruction and shows patients pictures of what the results of a procedure might look like. “We decide if they're a candidate for one type of procedure or another,” she says. “It's so important to talk to them and listen to their needs. It requires a lot of trust.”
In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Haykal has research interests in breast reconstructive surgery and vascularized composite allotransplantation, which is the transplantation in a single surgical procedure of multiple tissues, such as skin, bone, muscle, and tendon and other tissues.
Dr. Haykal serves as section chief of Reconstructive Oncology for the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery within the Department of Surgery at Yale Medicine.
