Payment for Revision Breast Surgery when Implants Bottom Out?

Actually in a sense, both the patient and the surgeon pay. The patient probably will have some costs for a revision surgery. The patient pays for the anesthesia and the OR costs. It's usually a small amount compared to the initial surgery, but no patient expects to have to go back to surgery to "fix" something they paid for. On the other hand, a good surgeon is going to be disappointed in a less than optimum outcome. The time spent doing the revision is money lost for him too.... more

It can occasionally be the case that an implant can descend more than desirable (bottom out) from mechanisms beyond the surgeon's control. Some patients have vague, ill-defined creases and are more prone to bottoming out. Sometimes a patient will over massage the implants and cause their own descent. Sometimes it can be from garments worn improperly. On the other hand, there can be things done at surgery that can open up a greater risk for bottoming out. One of these is lowering the... more

The cost of revision is something you should go over with your surgeon. Everyone handles it differently.  I hope that they can work with you to correct your problem.

Hello, Each practice handles these things differently. In most cases there are costs borne by both parties. The surgeon usually forgoes much in the way of professional fees and the patients end up paying for operating room costs and/or anesthesia.

My general office policy is to correct problems withing the first year at a reasonable cost. There is a modest supply charge when performing a cosmetic revision under local anesthesia. If general anesthesia is required then there is a charge for this as well. I do not charge a surgeon's fee. I have a written policy for this and all patients receive it at the time of their consultation. It is certainly a difficult subject to discuss but necessary.

Gingercat: As a surgeon I attempt to produce beautiful results and happy patients. However I often tell patients that surgery is imperfect. My office provides all patients with a quote during their preop consultation that spells out our policies about redo surgery and which items the surgeon will discount, and which items the patient would be responsible for. Patients know this before agreeing to initial surgery. If you have such policies from your surgeon, that would clarify redo costs... more

This is a difficult question for which there is no universally applicable answer. There are multiple different issues at play. Clearly, it is in the surgeon's best interest to get the best possible result the first time around. The surgeon does not seek to profit from multiple surgeries nor are they expected to pay to correct every unfavorable outcome for every possible complication. On the other hand, the patient has typically compensated the surgeon and expects a favorable outcome from... more

In my office, we only charge  for anesthesia and surgery center fees for similar cases. Things happen and sometimes an implant can drop. If that is the case, a small surgery will fix it.