Some important factors to consider include:
- Breast implants do not last forever. If you decide to get breast implants, you will likely need additional surgeries on your breasts over your lifetime due to complications or unsatisfactory cosmetic outcomes.
- Many of the changes to your breasts following implantation cannot be undone. If you later choose to have your implants removed and not replaced, your breasts will not change back to the way they looked before your implant surgery. You may have permanent dimpling, puckering, wrinkling, or other cosmetic changes.
- When you have your implants replaced (revision), your risk of complications increases compared to your first (primary) surgery.
- Routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer will be more difficult with breast implants.
- Breast implants may affect your ability to breast feed, either by reducing or eliminating milk production.
Factors to consider specifically about silicone gel-filled breast implants include:
- If your silicone gel-filled breast implant ruptures, you may have no symptoms. This is called a silent rupture because, most of the time, neither you nor your doctor will know that your implant has ruptured.
- The best way to determine whether or not your silicone gel-filled implant has ruptured is with an MRI examination. You should have your first MRI three years after your implant surgery and every two years thereafter.
- Over your lifetime, the cost of MRI screening may exceed the cost of your initial surgery. This cost may not be covered by medical insurance.
Source: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/BreastImplants/ucm063719.htm#1
Platinum is a metal used in the manufacture of the shell and gel components of silicone breast implants. FDA fully evaluated the scientific literature on platinum. Based on the existing literature, FDA believes that the platinum contained in the implant shell and gel is in the zero oxidation state, which poses the lowest health risk. This is further supported by the available biocompatibility testing, gel bleed testing, and clinical data on these implants.
Source: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/BreastImplants/ucm063719.htm#1
If your saline-filled breast implant ruptures, you or your doctor will be able to tell. When saline-filled breast implants rupture, they deflate and the saline solution leaks into your body immediately or over a period of days. You will notice that your implant loses its original size or shape.
If your silicone gel-filled breast implant ruptures, it is likely that neither you nor your doctor will know. This is known as a silent rupture. This is why MRI is recommended at three years after implantation and then every two years thereafter to screen for rupture. However, sometimes there are symptoms. These symptoms include hard knots or lumps surrounding the implant or in the armpit, change or loss of size or shape of the breast or implant, pain, tingling, swelling, numbness, burning, or hardening of the breast.
Source: http://www.fda.gov/
Technorati Profile
We do not know all of the causes of breast implant rupture. We do know that breast implants can rupture from:
- damage during implantation or during other surgical procedures
- folding or wrinkling of the implant shell
- trauma or other excessive force to the chest
- compression of the breast during mammography.
Source: http://www.fda.gov/
it is likely that you will need to have one or more reoperations over the course of your life because of local complications from breast implants.
Reasons for reoperations could include any of the potential local complications bulleted above, such as capsular contracture, wrinkling, asymmetry, rupture/deflation, implant malposition, etc.
The type of surgical procedure(s) performed during the reoperation depends on the local complication involved. More than one procedure may be performed in a single reoperation. Examples of the types of surgical procedures that may be performed in a reoperation include:
- implant removal with or without replacement
- capsule procedure (e.g., removal or surgical release of the capsule)
- scar or wound revision (e.g., surgical removal of excess scar tissue)
- drainage of a hematoma (e.g., inserting a needle or tube through the skin to drain the collection of blood)
- repositioning of the implant (e.g., surgically opening the incision and moving the implant)
- biopsy/cyst removal (e.g., inserting a needle through the skin or cutting through the skin to remove a lump).
Multiple reoperations to either improve the appearance of the breasts, to remove ruptured/deflated implants, or both may result in an unsatisfactory cosmetic outcome.
A retrospective study by Gabriel, et al. showed that 24% of women with breast implants had complications resulting in a reoperation during the first five years after implantation (silicone and saline implants were studied together). 7 According to this study, about 1 in 3 women getting breast implants for reconstruction needed a reoperation within five years, and about 1 in 8 women getting breast implants for augmentation needed a reoperation within five years.
Prospective studies of saline-filled breast implants approved by FDA in May 2000 showed reoperation rates of 13-21% at 3 years and 20-26% at 5 years for augmentation patients. The same studies showed reoperation rates of 39-40% at 3 years and 43-45% at 5 years for reconstruction patients.
Source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
You may need non-surgical treatments or reoperations (including removal of your implant) to treat any of these local complications. Potential local complications include, but are not limited to:
. Asymmetry
. Inflammation/irritation
. Breast pain
. Malposition/displacement
. Breast tissue atrophy
. Necrosis
. Calcification/calcium deposits
. Nipple/breast sensation changes
. Capsular contracture
. Palpability/visibility
. Chest wall deformity
. Ptosis
. Delayed wound healing
. Redness/bruising
. Extrusion
. Rupture/deflation
. Galactorrhea
. Scarring
. Granuloma
. Seroma
. Hematoma
. Unsatisfactory style/size
. Iatrogenic injury/damage
. Wrinkling/rippling
. Infection, including Toxic Shock Syndrome
Source: FDA Breast Implant Consumer Handbook – 2004
- Breast implants will not last a lifetime. Either because of rupture or other complications, you will likely need to have the implants removed.
- You are likely to need additional doctor visits and reoperations because of one or more complications over the course of your life.
- You are likely to have the implants removed, with or without replacement, because of one or more complications over the course of your life.
- Many of the changes to your breast following implantation may be cosmetically undesirable, as well as irreversible (cannot be undone).
- If you later choose to have your implants removed, you may experience unacceptable dimpling, puckering, wrinkling, loss of breast tissue, or other undesirable cosmetic changes of the breast.
Source: FDA Breast Implant Consumer Handbook
Some of the risks of breast implants include:
- reoperations (additional surgeries), with or without removal of the device
- capsular contracture (hardening of the area around the implant)
- breast pain
- changes in nipple and breast sensation
- rupture with deflation for saline-filled implants
- rupture with or without symptoms for silicone gel-filled implants
- migration of silicone gel for silicone gel-filled breast implants.
Source: Center for Devices and Radiological Health
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