What Causes Encapsulation of Breast Implants?

What Causes Encapsulation of Breast Implants? Any implanted sugcutaneous object creates a foreign body response. In the case of non-resorbable implants, this result in the formation of a coccoon-like fibrous tissue capsule. THIS IS NORMAL. For some reason and in certain cases, the capsule will start to contract causing deformity, constriction, pain and distortion of softer flexible implants. This is ABNORMAL and currently attributable ot hematoma and biofilm formation.

Every foreign device that is implanted in your body, whether it is a knee joint, pacemaker, or breast implant, gets a smooth, thin layer of sca tissue around it. This is your bodies way of reacting to the foreign device.  It forms a pocket around the device, essentially walling it of from the rest of the body.  Why some women get very firm and hard capsules around their implants is still debatable, but most surgeons feel it is from two things - trauma and bleeding during/after the surgery and the natural bacteria of the body.  This is why the goal is always to perform the surgery as atraumatically as possible, as well as kill off any of the bacteria in the area, both with antibiotics in your system and in the pocket itself.  I hope this helps.

To be clear, anytime something is placed in the body, the body reacts to the foreign object by developing a thin layer of scar tissue to surround the object and protect the rest of the body. This happens with breast implants, but sometimes too much scar tissue develops and it can cause what’s known as capsular contracture. In this case, unfortunately we don’t really know why this happens, but it is repairable through revision surgeries. If this is a concern for you or something you are currently experiencing, meet with your Board Certified plastic surgeon to see about your options.

The body forms a natural barrier to implants and all become encapsulated.  Some get tight and no one knows ffor sure why this happens.

There is a huge difference between a CAPSULE and a CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE.

EVERY foreign body placed in our bodies (artificial joints, heart valves, shunts, artificial blood vessels, ports, Lap Bands, bullets, shrapnel and breast implants) become covered and walled off with fine scar tissue also called a capsule. This is the body's way of walling these items off.

In some cases the scar process does not stop and a lot of scar becomes deposited which constricts and chokes on the implant within it. That is referred to as a CONTRACTURE.

There are many recognized potential causes which may trigger a capsular contracture. Among them :
- Blood (It has long been recognized that bluntly separating tissues instead of carefully dividing them with a cautery results in more bleeding and subsequent contracture).
- Foreign Bodies (fragments of gowns, glove powder, gauze etc)
- Infection (any seeding of the implants with bacteria at the time of surgery or years later from a dental procedure or a urinary tract infection for example)
- external radiation