Breast Implant Re-Operations
Any surgery can go wrong, but breast augmentation surgery can have more severe effects on both the body and mind, simply because of its cosmetic nature. You go in for breast implants to feel good about your body and yourself, but if surgical complications threaten to ruin your looks, there can be nothing more distressing. So, the only way out is to go in for a re-operation.
Reasons for breast implant re-operation
Breast implants, more often than not, give rise to some local complications. These may include capsular contracture, wrinkling, asymmetry, rupture, deflation, shifting and the like and may warrant breast implant removal through a re-operation.
According to a study conducted by Gabriel, et al, at least twenty-four percent women with either silicone or saline breast implants had complications resulting in a re-operation within the first five years after implantation. Of these, about one in three women, who got breast implants for reconstruction and about one in eight women, who got the implants for augmentation, needed re-operation within five years.
Specifically, the re-operation rates for augmentation patients using the FDA approved saline filled breast implants were thirteen to twenty-one percent within three years and twenty to twenty-six percent within five years. The rates for reconstruction patients were thirty-nine to forty percent within three years and forty-three to forty-five percent within five years.
However, opting for breast implant re-operation for reasons other than these is not uncommon. Let's see what these are:
a. To change the cup size: This is the most common reason for a re-operation. Although, surgeons usually encourage the patients to see how different breast sizes would look on their bodies, wrong ones generally get selected. Little wonder seven out of ten women in the US are not aware of their current bust size and move around in a wrong bra size!
b. To improve the 'natural feel' of the breast: This is the second most common reason for re-operation. For this, the surgeons generally use smooth implants, as compare to the textured ones. Smooth implants wrinkle less under the skin and give the breasts a more natural feel.
c. To treat capsular contracture: This is the third most common reason for breast implant re-operation. A re-operation is required in this case to free the implants from the naturally forming scar tissue that tightens and squeezes it.
The surgical procedure
The surgical procedure would depend upon the nature of the local complication involved. More than one procedure may be involved in a single re-operation. The types of surgical procedures that may be performed in a re-operation can be:
a. Breast implants removal with or without replacement.
b. Capsule procedure, which involves removal or surgical release of the capsule.
c. Scar or wound revision to surgically remove the excess scar tissue.
d. Drainage of hematoma, the accumulated blood in the breast area, by inserting a needle or tube through the skin.
e. Repositioning of the implant that may have shifted from its place. This is done by surgically opening the incision and moving the implant.
f. Biopsy or cyst removal carried out by inserting a needle through the skin or cutting through the skin to remove the lump.
If you feel you've a problem with the way your breasts look after the placement of implants, discuss all of the potential possibilities and risks of a re-operation with your surgeon. And be sure to submit yourself to an experienced plastic surgeon, for you wouldn't want a cosmetic outcome that proves unsatisfactory once again!
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