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Risk Of Leakage In Newer Cohesive Gel Silicone Breast Implants?

asked 5 months ago by Birdsong in Charlotte, NC
Latest answer by John J. Corey, MD
Question viewed 261 times
Tags: silicone implant, cohesive gel, leak, risk

I've read a lot of reviews on silicone breast implants, revisions and videos on youtube related to these, and what I really want to know is, when the new silicone implants rupture, do they leak into your body? I've read horror stories about the silicone traveling to lymph nodes and people having to have them cut out, etc. I'm wondering however, if these are the older ones because of the difference in texture and viscosity was much different than the cohesive gel available today, preventing this?

7 answers to Risk Of Leakage In Newer Cohesive Gel Silicone Breast Implants?

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Risk Of Leakage In Newer Cohesive Gel Silicone Breast Implants?Answer:

The old silicone was more like syrup and when the implant broke it leaked out like an egg yolk, and could be seen on regular mammogram. The new one are more cohesive and when they break they just sit there and when you do pull one of the new ones out, it has a tendency to come out in one big piece rather then strings of silicone. Much better but really only seen on MRI
John J. Corey, MD

Phoenix Plastic Surgeon
+1

Cohesive gel implants

Cohesive gel implants are a different viscosity than traditional implants( memory gel,etc.) They do not specifically leak they are form stabile.
Steven Wallach, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
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Silicone Gel-filled Breast Implant Failure Rate and Complications

Silicone Gel-filled Breast Implant Failure Rate A detailed answer to your questions deals with several factors including shell failure, capsular integrity, and silicone chemistry. I apologize a head of time if this bores you. A very rough estimate of implant failure is about 1% per year. This estimate holds true for the earlier years, but since breast implants are not considered permanent medical devices, the failure rate does increase as the implant ages. In June 2011 the FDA... more
Kenneth Dembny, II, MD

Milwaukee Plastic Surgeon

www.mycpss.com

+1

Leaking cohesive gel breast implants

As a rule, all breast implants leak, and a leak occurs when the implant envelop or shell fractures or tears. The shell is made of silicone rubber, a different creature than silicone gel. Cohesive gel, or silicone gel that sticks together resist leaking out from the shell and the natural scar capsule around the implant, but a leak is a leak and implant should be replaced as capsular contracture often follows. None of the gels will 'go through' your body and what your have heard are... more
Peter E. Johnson, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

www.peterejohnsonmd.com

+1

Newest cohesive silicone gel implants won't leak, but rupture (very rare) is possible.

The newest generation of silicone gel implants (by both manufacturers in the US) consist of a strong silicone elastomer shell surrounding a cohesive silicone gel filler that is a soft, rubbery, solid--sort of like Jello, but not an oozing, liquid substance like older implants (the ones sometimes featured on TV and now YouTube videos). If these implants were ever to sustain enough trauma (you would have to be in a pretty nasty situation yourself to damage your implants while in your body)... more
Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS

Minneapolis Plastic Surgeon

www.mpsmn.com

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Silicone implants are not liquid

The concept of cohesiveness relates to the thickness or viscosity of the gel. Modern gel implants have the consistency lets say of jello, so as such, when the shell fails, they do not leak like saline implants. It's more like breaking a piece of sticky jello. The truly cohesive implants know as gummy bear implants which are not yet available for general use in the US, are thicker still, hence the term gummy bear. It is possible for small microscopic amounts of gel to be found in the... more
Jeffrey Hartog, MD

Orlando Plastic Surgeon
+1

Breast implant leakage

Thank you for your question. The new cohesive silicone implants have a relatively low rate of rupture, especially compared to the older gel implants. And if they do rupture they usually stay confined to the breast capsule itself. This allows the implant to remain within the breast space and not travel throughout the body.
Bill Kortesis, MD

Charlotte Plastic Surgeon

www.hunstadcenter.com

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