General Risks of Breast Implants Explained
I have undergone four separate surgeries in my life without incident
from anesthesia. However, everyone should know, at a minimum, that it is a horrible
feeling to wake up from surgery after anesthesia. There are significant consequences if
something goes wrong with anesthesia including coma or death. You should ask your surgeon
and anesthesiologist about all of this.
One thing that made me much more comfortable about the risk of
anesthesia was the fact that, at a hospital where my friend is a nurse, no one has ever
perished from anesthesia alone. Still, it is a risk you must keep in mind in connection
with any surgery.
According to the FDA, capsular contracture is when the scar tissue
or capsule that normally forms around the implant tightens and squeezes the implant. It
may be more common following infection, hematoma (collection of blood), and seroma
(collection of watery portion of blood). There are four grades of capsular contracture -
Baker Grades I through IV.
The Baker grading is as follows:
- Grade I - the breast is normally soft and looks natural
- Grade II - the breast is a little firm but looks normal
- Grade III - the breast is firm and looks abnormal (visible
distortion)
- Grade IV - the breast is hard, painful, and looks abnormal (greater
distortion)
Additional surgery may be needed to correct the capsular
contracture. This surgery ranges from removal of the implant capsule tissue to removal
(and possibly replacement) of the implant itself. Capsular contracture may happen again
after this additional surgery.
According to the FDA, in a prospective clinical study of
saline-filled breast implants conducted by Mentor, 9 percent of women undergoing cosmetic
breast enlargement experienced Grades III and IV capsular contracture after 3 years of the
study. In a similar study by McGhan, rate was also 9%. Rates of contracture in reconstructive patients were higher.
Patient with capsular contracture
Both of the surgeons I consulted with before my operation informed
me that there was a significant incidence of capsular contracture but that placing the
implants under the muscle can reduce the risk significantly. I was also comforted by the
fact that there had been a very high incidence of contracture with older silicone implants
because the silicone gel was more likely to leach out of what were then quite thin-walled
implants and more likely to cause the body to react adversely.
