How common are complications due to having implants?

There are many complications that can occur with breast augmentations with capsular contracture being the most common. Nation wide Capsular contracture occurs in about 9% of augmentations over the life of the implant. There many things that can be done to help prevent capsular contracture that are patient and surgeon dependent. Ultimately your question about the frequency of complications needs to be directed to your surgeon as we each have our own rate of complications. For example I almost never see bottoming out but my technique is very different than your planned surgery.

Breast implants themselves are exceedingly safe and are among the most scrutinized medical devices approved the FDA.

That being said, augmentation surgery carries all the risks associated with a surgical intervention (bleeding, infection, healing difficulties, anesthesia related issues).

A risk unique to breast implants is the risk of capsular contracture (i.e. excessive scarring) in approximately 10% of cases. It is more common in subglandular placement and is a progressive issue which begins with hardening but can, in some cases, become painful distortion.

As always, discuss your concerns with a board certified plastic surgeon (ABPS).

The modern day generation silicone gel implants are one of the safest medical devices in the history of medicine. There is extensive high level evidence from experts in breast implant surgery showing the safety of these devices over the last 30 years. I would go see a board-certified plastic surgeon (with plastic surgery residency and aesthetic fellowship training) for a consultation.

Dear shayyyymw,
there have been numerous studies on the safety and efficacy of silicone breast implants. The FDA has approved them to be safe and breast augmentation is the most common cosmetic surgical procedure performed in the United States every year. Implants are much different than they used to be with rigorous testing and cohesive gel. I can't tell you how happy my breast augmentation patients have been with their implants.
I would recommend a consult with a plastic surgeon to go over all of your concerns. Saline implants are also a perfectly good option if you are still concerned and are less expensive.
Daniel Barrett, MDCertified, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

We don’t expect complications such as waterfall deformity, bottoming out or capsular contraction in many patients. If these problems occur, it will be at least 3 years after the surgery
Immediate complications such as bleeding and infection is very rare and happens in the first 48 hours after the surgery

Hello,

Thank you for the question.

Breast augmentation surgery is a relatively safe procedure with very low risk of complications, especially in healthy individuals without any comorbidities such as diabetes, smoking, etc.

Some of the possible complications include but are not limited to risk of infection, bleeding, unfavorable scarring, implant malposition, capsular contracture ( about 10% at 10 years after surgery), asymmetry, seroma, changes of nipple sensation, need for implant replacement (typically in 10-15 years), implant loss, etc.

I suggest that you seek an in person consultation with a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon specializing in Breast surgeries to further discuss your options, specific techniques, concerns and expectations. Make sure you specifically look at before and after pictures of real patients who have had this surgery performed by your surgeon and evaluate their results.

I hope this helps.

Best, Dr. Karanetz

Dr. Irena Karanetz
Breast Fellowship Trained
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

You have a surgeon who should be able to answer those questions. That is what a consultation is for. However, I will tell you that SSBI (formally BII, but still called that by the conspiracy activists) has been preliminarily examined in a prospective cohort control trial. There is no putative agent (heavy metals, bacteria, endotoxins, cytokines) that stands out as unique to the symptomatic group. What does stand out in the symptomatic group is a high predilection and preference to get medical information from the internet and self reported anxiety and/or health anxiety.

Any surgery has risks and any artificial thing put inside the body can break. However, implants have been studied more than all other implantable devices put together. We still do not have all the answers. BII is complicated and can be due to many causes other than implants. I have seen many women not improve once the implants were removed. Toxicology studies down on capsules in women with presumed BII do show toxins, especially heavy metals, that are not present in the implants, but are present in hair dyes and tattoo ink. Capsules are much less common that with the older implants, but still may be as high as 10%. Bottoming out occurs when the implant selected is too large and heavy for your tissue and frame. During your consultation, the risks can be discussed, and you may ask questions.

Serious complications from implants are uncommon. There are many factors that can influence your outcome that need to be considered. It starts with selecting an experienced board certified plastic surgeon. She/He will be your personal guide in recommending the correct implant for you to help you achieve your surgical goals with as low risk as possible. Selecting the right implant is also important. Patients that elect to go too large have a higher risk of complications such as capsular contracture and bottoming out. Another factor lies with the patient. It's important to eat a healthy, balanced diet as you prepare for surgery, avoid all nicotine according to your surgeon's advice, and closely follow all post op instructions. I encourage you to ask questions at your consultations so that you can make an informed decision about surgery.

10% of women who have breast augmentation surgery will have rehab rations within the first 10 years and 20% of patients who have breast augmentation surgery will have a second procedure by 10 years.
The most common reason for a secondary procedures, is increasing the size of the implants, but this varies.
sometimes implants failed to drop down and the pocket needs to be adjusted.
The incidence of having implants bottom out is directly related to the skill and experience of the surgeon.
to minimize the chance of having that complication, you should very carefully screen when interviewing plastic surgeons.
generally speaking, I recommend all patients have multiple in person consultations before scheduling surgery. During each consultation, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before, and after pictures of previous patients, who had similar body and breast characteristics to your own.
an experienced plastic sturgeon should have no difficulty showing you the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients.
Ask providers to show you as many long-term follow ups as possible.
You should ask each provider specifically what their own revision rates are, including how often they see patients implants. It’s not uncommon for patients to seek help from other plastic surgeons when they have undesirable outcomes from a surgical procedure. For this reason, some providers may not be aware that they are leaving patients with undesirable outcomes because the patients don’t follow up with them.
Doctors who have consistent problems will know about it and it’s not wrong to ask specifically how many patients have had each of the complications you were concerned about.
There are a few variables that increase the chance of having capsular contractions.
The best way to avoid capsular contractions is to use meticulous sterility(all plastic surgeons do this) and to minimize the amount of blood around the implant by being meticulous about cauterizing areas that are bleeding during surgery. Sub pectoral augmentation also reduces the chance of capsular contraction in comparison to placing the implants above the pectoralis muscle.
Overall, I think breast augmentation is a pretty straightforward procedure with consistent high patient satisfaction and a relatively low complication rate.
Choosing providers does make a big difference. Look for plastic surgeons who do a lot of breast augmentation surgery.
It’s also important to understand your own candidacy for the procedure. For example, women who have a divergent breasts or breast that sit far apart, are going to have this look emphasized or enhanced by having augmentation.
Your candidacy, for the procedure should’ve been discussed thoroughly during the consultation, including the provider, showing you ample examples of previous patients who had very similar breast characteristics to your own.
The most serious early complication is generally an infection, and is often equates to augmentation failure with losing the implant. Infections after breast augmentation is relatively low.
The most significant long-term complication is chronic capsular contraction, which can also lead to implant failure with need of removing implants.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD