Tenerife Hospital Performs First Endoscopic Mastectomy in Canary Islands

Oncological care in the Canary Islands has reached a new milestone with the introduction of endoscopic mastectomy at the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Tenerife. The regional health department confirmed that surgeons recently performed the procedure on a 48-year-old patient with multicentric carcinoma, marking a significant advancement for the archipelago.

This new approach offers a vital alternative for patients who are not candidates for traditional conservative surgery. Using a video-assisted technique, surgeons make a single three-centimeter incision near the armpit. By using gas to create space inside the surgical area, the team can remove breast tissue and the sentinel lymph node with much greater precision.

Beyond surgical accuracy, this method significantly improves the patient's recovery. By preserving the skin and the nipple-areola complex, the multidisciplinary team—including specialists in gynecology, plastic surgery, anesthesiology, and nursing—can reduce the risk of bleeding and infection while maintaining sensation in the area. Furthermore, because the plastic surgery team performs immediate breast reconstruction during the same operation, patients avoid the need for a second surgery and are often able to go home within 24 hours.

The hospital plans to perform between ten and twelve of these procedures annually. This shift reflects a broader trend in cancer treatment: prioritizing less invasive techniques that improve aesthetic outcomes and speed up recovery without compromising the effectiveness of the cancer treatment itself. With this new protocol, the hospital continues to enhance its care, offering patients a faster and more comfortable path to recovery.