Is It Common to Reuse the Old Breast Capsule when Going Larger in Cc's?

I developed severe capsular contracture 3 days post opperation.... I am a baker 4 and in alot of pain ever since the day of surgery and I am now 6 weeks post opperation. I had a deflation in the side that has cc. I was previously 500cc's and went upto 600cc's. I was told that the old capsule was not removed but instead reused. Could this have caused my pain? or could my body develope capsular contracture within 3 days ? Please Help? My doctor says it will be very expensive to correct this.

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9 Doctor Answers | Asked by ciera1823 in malibu, CA

Doctor Answers (9)
Community Comments (1)

Breast capsules and implant exchange...

The best way to treat a breast capsule during implant exchange depends upon several factors, the severity of the capsule being extremely important. In the case of having a Baker Class IV capsule (a breast implant capsule causing visible changes to breast appearance plus associated breast pain or tenderness), you were experiencing the most severe manifestation of this problem. It isn't really possible for a Baker Class IV capsule to develop within 3 days of breast augmentation... more

Breast Revision

You should see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for this problem. Usually, a capsulotomy on some level is performed, but each case is unique. This is not a case for someone not familiar with these problems, thus the reason I recommend you see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. If your surgeon is not comfortable with the problem, then see at least 1 or 2 Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and evaluate their opinion. To remove a capsule usually takes 2-3 times the time to... more

Change Implant Location With Grade4 Contracture

I think that the chances of recurrence of a significant capsular contracture (grade 3 or 4) are reduced by placing implants in a virgin location, especially if they were originally placed above the muscle. Even if the original implants have been placed submuscularly, I would try to dissect a new pocket between the anterior capsule and the muscle.

Reusing the old breast capsule...

Ciera, it has been my experience that after deflation, the capsule begins to contract and get smaller and the longer the time of deflation, the smaller it gets and the harder to open it up. And you went 100cc bigger as well so the capsule probably needed a bit of work, either aggressive capsulotomies, neo-capsulization, as described by Dr. Laverson, or some degree of capsulectomies. But having this degree of hardness right after surgery seems to indicate too much untreated old capsule. more

Management of the Implant Capsule in Breast Implant Exchange

Whether one's existing breast implant capsule is maintained, released or removed during an implant replacement/exchange depends on numerous factors. If it is a simple implant exchange due to deflation and the previous implant position was satisfactory and the new implant will not be appreciably bigger, then the implant capsule would be maintained. If the implant exchange involves a significantly larger implant, then the implant pocket would be enlarged by doing capsular releases. If the... more

Please provide more information and ictures

Your time line and explanation is not clear. If your main question is the capsule removal and reuse , I would say that it will depend on the surgical finding. Your surgeon may had concern about blood circulation and thickness.

Kamran Khoobehi, MD

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New Orleans Plastic Surgeon

Reusing old capsule during implant exchange

I may not understand the problem completely but if the only problem you had was a deflation, and the only thing your surgeon did was to exchange a larger implant for the deflated implant, without either taking out the previous capsule, or performing multiple capsulotomies, than "yes" I think your pain is due to "reusing" the old capsule. It should be logical that stuffing a larger implant into a small space won't work well. On the other hand if there were other issues... more

Breast implant contracture

It is difficult to respond to your specific circumstance without more information. Was your initial implant saline or gel? If gel was ruptured and capsule was not removed, then you likely have residual silicone that may be contributing to contracture. It is common to create a virgin pocket anterior to an old capsule, a technique popularized by Dr. Patrick Maxwell. This applies to patients, in my opinion, with non-calcified capsules with intact implants.... more

No capsule in 3 days

You can't form a capsule in three days. You must have had a hematoma which isna collection of blood. I would talk to your surgeon and make sure they are Board Certified. Andrew Cohen, MD

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Comments (1)

drsnow 4 Oct 2012

After reading many posts by the Physicians, they say repeatedly that there is not enough information for them to answer the question. This is true, but not because the person asking the question did not wish to elaborate – there simply is not enough room for someone to fully explain their situation (even without rambling or irrelevant info.) with a 500 character limit.

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