Is the Number of Revisions a Surgeon Does on Their Own Breast Implant Surgeries a Concern?

When choosing a doctor, how relevant is it to know if a surgeon needs to do revisions on breast augmentation they performed? Is it equally important to know the situation in which these revisions were needed? I want a doctor that has experience. If they did a lot of revisions of their own work, I want to know why. Maybe some of those cases were outside of their control or outside factors were the issue. How available is this information to prospective patients?

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9 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

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Choosing a Surgeon for Breast Surgery

Hi there- I'm not sure that whether or not a surgeon performs revisions of his own work (or the frequency with which he does so) is that relevant at all... All good surgeons will perform a revision from time to time... I think that the factors you SHOULD consider (in order of diminishing importance) are: The surgeon's Board Certification Status (The one you want is The American Board of Plastic Surgery) The surgeon's prior OUTCOMES. Before hiring an... more

Choosing your plastic surgeon: revisions for breast surgery

All doctors do revisions implants have a revisions rate 5-15% capsules occur 8-15% but not all require revisions check doctors certification, years in practice ask when and why they may do revisions what are the costs

Breast Augmentation and the Risk of Revisional Surgery

Every operation is associated with a risk and some percentage of the need for revisional surgery. This is particularly so for any operation in which a synthetic implant is responsible for the result and breast augmentation is most certainly a device-dependent procedure. Most patients would be surprised to find out that the three year risk of revisional surgery in breast augmentation, for any reason whatsoever from infection, asymmetry or dissatisfaction with implant size, is near 33%! This... more

Breast Implant Corrective Surgery

There are always a certain % of surgical cases that will need some secondary revision. These numbers are known and for breast implants 2 to 3 % of patients may need a revision surgery. Yes, if a surgeon is revising a huge number , this would be a concern and peer review session where doctors review doctors help solve this problem. Peer review sessions are designed to help patients and doctors. When you consult with a plastic surgeon, it... more

Breast augmentation and revisions

I think that every surgeon performs a certain percentage of revisions. Certainly the longer you are in practice, the more patients come back to you for either additional work or revisionary work. It is a testament to their satisfaction that they trust you to do their surgery again.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Number of Revisions in Breast Augmentation

Dr Tholen may have summed it up best about the 3 types of surgeons who don't have to do revisions. Instead of trying to measure your surgeon by the number of revisions, look at the before and after pictures, office revision policy, evaluations from other patients and your own interactions with the surgeon. The longer a surgeon is in practice, the more patients return asking for touch-ups, revisions and implant replacements. Some skilled and experienced surgeons are known for taking on... more

Plastic surgery and re-do operations . . . the fewer, the better!

There are only 3 surgeons who don't have re-do surgeries: 1) The dead surgeon. 2) The retired surgeon. 3) and the liar. The best surgeons (those who have the fewest complications or re-do operations) are those who obtain excellent training, obtain board certification by real (not bogus) boards, keep up their continuing education, do a lot of the kind of surgery you are... more

Breast Surgery Revisions

No honest surgeon will ever tell you he never has to do a revision. And if a surgeon's techniques are such that he has to do a larger than average number of revisions, he may not admit that to you. Talk with friends, nurses, mammographers and hair care professionals and I bet pretty soon one or two names will come to the top on your list as to who has the talent you want.

Surgeons and their Revision Rates

Thank you for the question. It is important to understand that no surgeon is perfect and that every surgeon will have to re-operate and improve upon his/her surgical results. As you say, sometimes the “complication” is preventable, sometimes not. If the surgeon has a significantly higher rate ( than average) of complications such as hematoma or infections than this would be very concerning. In my opinion, this would point to a potential problem with... more