When imaging the post-operative breast, it is important to keep in mind the features of breast cancer on mammography that can be the same as the changes seen in post-operative scars. These include:

1. spiculated mass

2. irregular calcifications

3. skin indentation

4. skin thickening

5. irregular shadowing mass on ultrasound

'Lumpectomy' should generally be reserved for describing the removal of a malignant mass, but patients often describe benign excisional biopsies as a 'lumpectomy'. Synonyms for lumpectomy include partial mastectomy, segmentectomy quadrantectomy, segmental mastectomy.

Depending on the amount of tissue removed, various different methods can be used to provide a better cosmetic result, including implants, implants with tissue flaps, tissue flaps alone and free flaps.

Early recurrences of cancer in the scar region tend to look the same as the original tumor, so it is always useful to review preoperative imaging when doing followup imaging for the first five years.