Silicone in the Lymph Nodes after Breast Augmentation

Axillary (armpit) lymph nodes most commonly occur following infection of the arm or upper extremity.  They can occur from infection, cancer, and less commonly, from a ruptured silicone implant in the breast.

Lymph nodes in the armpit should never be ignored and must undergo complete evaluation to rule out malignancy.  It should never be assumed that the lymph nodes are a result of a ruptured silicone implant.   Seek the attention of a qualified plastic surgeon or general surgeon to examine the entire breast and axilla to determine the risk of malignancy.

1 of 1 found this helpful

Helpful?

Contact the doctor

The controversy regarding systemic auto-immune diseases being caused by silicone gel breast implants have been adequately put to rest. They don't.

If you are suggesting that silicone was detected in your axillary lymph nodes and thus led to or confirmed the diagnosis of ruptured implants, then it is not necessary to remove the nodes themselves if they are not inflamed. The difficult question is what to do with intracapsular (gel remains inside the natural capsule of scar tissue) silent (non-symptomatic) ruptures.

Most doctors, and certainly lawyers, will say to replace them since the implants are not functioning as designed. The problem is, not all intracapsular silent ruptures will amount to anything -- that is, they might not cause any clinical symptoms and remeain aesthetically acceptable and soft. So how can you justify doing surgery on every such implant when the patient has nothing tangible to gain?

To complicate matters, we surgeons worry about extra-capsular leakage where the gel gets outside the capsule and starts to migrate through tissue planes. This is something we don't want to have happen and can require messy, deforming surgery to treat. All extra-capsular leaks starts as intra-capsular leaks but we can't tell which intra-capsular leaks will progress to the more serious extra-capsular leaks.

If you decide not to have the implants replaced, be sure to monitor the shape and consistency of the breasts and notify your surgeon if you notice any change.

3 of 3 found this helpful

Helpful?

Contact the doctor

The presence of silicone in the lymph nodes is not unusual after breast augmentation. Sub-microscopic particles of silicone may pass through the intact envelope of a silicone gel implant, and eventually these silicone molecules are filtered by the lymph nodes, which is their purpose.

If a silicone gel implant is ruptured, there may be a much greater amount of molecular silicone that is exposed to your body, since there is no longer the outer silicone rubber shell of the implant acting as a barrier or membrane to limit contact of the silicone gel with your tissues. The body forms a "capsule" around the implant when it is intact, and generally, even when the outer shell of the implant breaks, the leaking gel is contained by this "capsule".

By itself, silicone in the lymph nodes is not a harmful condition. However, if the implant is confirmed as ruptured (based on physical examination, mammogram, MRI, or other diagnostic test), it should be removed and can be replaced if the patient wishes. Although it is not an emergency to do so, there is no advantage to waiting, either. There is no need to biopsy or remove lymph nodes that may contain silicone as a consequence of implant rupture.

1 of 2 found this helpful

Helpful?

Contact the doctor