How Common Are Moldy Saline Breast Implants ?

asked 3 years ago by worried and nervous in PA
Latest answer by Bruce K. Barach, MD
Question viewed 1,109 times
Tags: saline implants

I have been reading some scary stuff about saline implants lately that are making me very nervous about keeping them in. How common is it that the saline could get fungi/moldy or cause the implant to go black? Is this more likely to happen the longer they are in?

6 answers to How Common Are Moldy Saline Breast Implants ?

Also never seen moldy breast implants

in view of all the responders who have already answered, clearly this is an extremely rare event. I too have never seen it happen, and have been in practice for twenty-one years. it is probably not reasonable to be very worried about this happening . hope all these answers will enable you to reduce your level of concern.

Bruce K. Barach, MD
Schenectady Plastic Surgeon

drbarach.com

Nearly 16 years

I haven't seen it. I have thousands of cases under my belt, so I have seen a lot too. I would not worry too much about the scary stuff you have read.

Scott E. Kasden, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon

This is rare

I agree with Dr. Lentz - I too have been in practice over 30 years and saw this once and wrote a case report that was published in our journal - Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. To me, this is a non issue.

William B. Rosenblatt, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

I have never seen moldy breast implants

I have been in practice for 22 years. There has never been a case of mine or anyone else's that I have treated that had a moldy saline implant. To guarantee that this does not happen, all your surgeon needs to do is fill the implant directly from a sterile IV bag of saline without contact to anything external. I suppose in rare instances the IV bag could be contaminated before use but the chances are pretty slim.

Leslie H. Stevens, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

How often do we see moldy bresat implants?

I have been in practice for 18 years and I have never seen mold in any saline implants. I do between 100-150 implants per year so I am sure that this is rare. I always use a closed system when doing saline implants.

Blane T. Shatkin, MD
Ft. Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon

Moldy implants are extremely rare

In 30 years of practice I have seen this only once. I usually do between 150=200 pair of implants per year so that is surely uncommon. Make sure your surgeon uses a closed system to fill your implants at the time of surgery so that it should not happen at all.

Carl W. "Rick" Lentz III, MD
Daytona Beach Plastic Surgeon

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