A flap simply represents soft tissue elsewhere in your body (muscle, fat, or skin) that can be moved along with its blood supply to the chest and shaped to make a new breast. A free flap indicates that the tissue is moved from a distant location (most commonly the abdomen) and transplanted into the chest to make a breast. Dr. Alghoul specializes in performing the DIEP flap, which uses the skin and the fat of the lower abdomen (tummy tuck area) to reconstruct the breast while completely preserving the abdominal muscle. This procedure differs from the TRAM flap, which takes a portion or the entirety of the rectus muscle. The rectus muscle is the “six-pack” muscle on either side of the midline of the abdomen.