Risks, Complications And Side Effects Of Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation risks and complications can be divided into “early” or “late”. Early complications are rare. The most significant and common event is the development of a “haematoma”. This occurs when bleeding in the breast quickly produces a swollen, painful breast.
Haematomas are rare, occurring in only 2% of all cases. Treatment involves returning to the operating theatre to drain off the blood and to stop any bleeding blood vessels. Once prompt effective treatment has been applied, there is unlikely any long term problems, although the affected breast may remain swollen for a few weeks.
Another much dreaded complication is infection which leaves the affected breast hot, painful and swollen. You may feel unwell and even run a temperature. When this occurs, the surgeon will have no choice but to remove the implant and order a course of antibiotics. The breast implant can be reimplanted after an interval of a few months.
In less than 1% of all cases, nipple sensation may be reduced or even lost after breast augmentation.
Late Complications Of Breast Augmentation
Late complications may only become apparent after a period of months or even years. They include
- Visibility or palpability of the breast implant through the skin
- Rupture of the breast implant
- Capsular contracture
- Difficulty in detecting cancer
From Wikipedia - Revision mammoplasty: Breast implant complication, the Baker scale Grade IV capsular contracture of a subglandular silicone implant in the right breast.
Since the use of breast implants in the 1960s, the most frequent problem experienced by women with breast implants has been hardening or ‘encapsulation’ of the breast. The body will normally respond to the presence of an implant or any other prosthetic medical device by producing a thin layer of scar tissue around the breast implant.
If this scar tissue is excessive, the implant becomes hard and unyielding to the touch. The breast implant may become distorted or obviously round. Pain and discomfort may even occur. Treatment of capsular contracture can be difficult and the problem may recur.
However, this problem has largely been reduced due to advances in implant technology and design. Most breast implants are now ‘textured’. This means that the implant surface is rough or ‘stippled’, which appears to reduce the ability for thick scar tissue to develop.
Capsular contracture can still occur in up to 5% of all cases and may require either revisional surgery or removal of the breast implants.
Treatment Of Capsular Contracture
This may include
- The surgeon squeezing the breast to tear the capsule. This can be rather painful and produce swelling. This procedure is rarely done now to avoid rupturing the implant.
- An open procedure to release the capsule surgically.
- The use of external ultrasound energy on the breast.
- Medical treatment with zafirlukast (Accolate), a drug normally used for asthma. This treatment carries a potential risk of liver damage and is therefore not offered by many surgeons.
Breast implants may interfere with finding breast cancer during mammography. Breast implants may “hide” suspicious-looking patches of tissue and making the mammogram more difficult to interpret. The implant may also make the x-ray harder to perform. The breast must be squeezed during a mammography. Every woman who has a breast implant must inform the technologist before the procedure. The technologist can use special techniques to minimize the possibility of deflation and obtain the best possible views of the tissue.
However, more x-ray reviews are necessary when these special techniques are used, so women with breast implants will typically receive more radiation than women without implants. Still, the usefulness of a mammogram in finding cancer far outweighs the risk of the additional x-rays. There are also evolving techniques for breast screening such as the MRI that is not affected by the presence of a breast implant.
Risks Of Salt And Water Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation with the use of saline breast implants may see 1 % of cases where deflation or rupture may occur. Whether the saline breast implant breaks through normal wear or due to breast injury, it releases its saline (salt water) into the body. This usually happens quickly and surgery is then required to remove and, if desired, replace the deflated saline breast implant.
Since salt water is naturally present in the body, the leaked saline will be safely absorbed by the body instead of being treated as foreign matter. The risks of salt and water breast augmentation is rather low, apart from having to go for revision breast augmentation.
Related posts:
