Expect to go to the hospital to meet your anesthesiologist and fill out paperwork - usually, but not always, on a day prior to your actual operation. Once in the operating room, the procedure will take about 30 minutes to one hour depending on how large the lesion is and how large an incision needs to be be made. Only women with other severe medical problems should expect to spend the night in the hospital. Expect to need some mild narcotic pain medications for a few days - a prescription will be given to you when you go home. Leave the bandage in place according to the instructions given to you.
Potential complications are essentially the same as they are for a needle-directed breast biopsy .
The advantage is that you only go to the operating room once. The disadvantages are that you don't have time to discuss treatment options in detail, including which operation you prefer, and the possibility of immediate breast reconstruction. This choice may also limit your choices for the anesthetic used during the biopsy. Discuss this with your doctor. Surgeons will have opinions about treating the cancer at the same time that it is diagnosed.