Breast Augmentation Complications

The immediate recovery complications (pain, infection, bleeding, etc) will most likely be of no to minimal risk 6 weeks out. However, the implants can become infected at any point after, they may rupture or leak, and you may get scarring around the implants (capsular contracture.) So, make sure you follow up with your plastic surgeon as directed, and if you notice any problems starting to develop call him/her soon.

Once you get past about one month, then the risks for things like infection or hematoma are way down. There is always a small chance that an implant could leak or rupture. This can be addressed by simply exchanging the implant. There is always a small chance that the capsule that surrounds the implant could contract which could require more surgery to address. Just like any procedure, you are never 100% in the clear, but these risks are minimal enough that most people feel the procedure is... more

Dear Nachochz, For clarity, let us DEFINE what "complications" are - They are unexpected, unwanted events that cannot be predicted. In other words if for example, you smoke and as a result you will poorly. Such poor healing or wound popping open is NOT strictly a complication since it could conceivably been prevented. Similarly, if you had a few aspirins before surgery and you ended up with a blood clot formation (hematoma) - that too was a consequence of taking a blood thinning... more

Breast augmentation can have complications.  Early complications include hematoma, seroma, numbness, infection, unfavorable scarring, nipple loss, incision breakdowns, and exposure of the implant. Late complications can include capsular contracture, implant rupture, and infection to name a few.

With breast implants, you are never totally free of the possibility of complications. Early ones can occur as early as the day or evening of surgery such as a hematoma. These are rare after 2 weeks. Infections are rare and usually occur earlier than later but rare ones can occur much later in life from bacteria in the blood stream. Capsular contractures and implant integrity problems develop later.

Hi. If you are doing fine one month after breast augmentation, you are "in the clear", except that   1) an implant can leak at any time (  risk is about 1% per year ), and  2) a breast can become too firm (capsular contracture) at any time.

 The risks of complication after breast augmentation is like any other surgery. Breast augmentation has certain specific risks that are different like harding of the breast( capsular contraction) , rippling, not beine happy with the size( most common) and thinging of the breast skin.

There are acute complications and chronic complications. Immediately post-op, bleeding or post-anesthesia risks are our main concern. This can be evident even intra-operatively. If there are no signs of hematoma during the first 24 hours, then next time interval is a few days later when infections can occur. Subacute bleeding and seromas can occur rarely and may be evident 7-10 days out when clots can start to dissolve. I have even seen a hematoma form two months post-op in a resident case.... more

You can never say there is a point where you will never experience a complication. Complications are always possible. Fortunately they are relatively low in frequency. Our greatest concern for any surgery is within the first 24 hours and then up to 7-10 days. During this period, we tend to be vigilant for the potential complications of early or delayed bleeding or infection. As time proceeds over the longterm, we are more likely to see implant deflation or rupture.