Surgical procedures may involve the risk of complications such as infection, inflammation, redness and pain. There are also possible risks of complications related to breast augmentation surgery with implants. You should discuss with your doctor about the whole procedure and all the risks so that you are fully informed.
FRAGMENTATION – Implant rupture may take place immediately or gradually over a period of time. If the silicone gel implants break, you should notice a change in the shape and size of your breast. Or you should feel pain or tenderness, swelling, numbness, burning or stinging. It is also possible that a silent fractionation occurs, without having any symptoms and not realizing that your implant has broken. Some implants may break in the first months after surgery and others after a few years. Causes of rupture include surgical instruments damage during surgery, capsular contracture, closed capsulectomy, stresses such as trauma or intense manipulation, excessive compression during mammographic imaging, and unexplained unknown reasons. You should also be aware that the breast implant can wear out and break in time. Fragmented implants require another surgery to remove and replace the implant.
CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE – The scar tissue or capsule normally formed around the implant can tighten and press the implant, this phenomenon being called capsular contracture. This is still encountered after an infection, a hematoma and a seroma. It may also occur in the subglandular position behind the mammary gland and above the pectoral muscle. Symptoms range from mild rigidity and reduced discomfort to severe pain, distorted shape, palpability and / or displacement of the implant. If pain and / or rigidity are severe, a new operation is required. This intervention ranges from removing fibrous capsules to removal and possible replacement of the implant itself. Capsular contracture may occur again after these additional surgeries.
PAIN – pain intensity and variable duration may occur and persist after breast augmentation surgery. In addition, inappropriate size, wrong surgical technique or capsular contracture can cause pain associated with a nerve compression or interference with muscle mass movement. You should inform your surgeon about severe pain.
OTHER SURGICAL INTERVENTIONS – You should understand that there is a good chance that at some point another surgery will be needed to replace or remove the implant. At the same time, problems such as rupture, capsular contracture, infection, displacement and calcium deposits may require removal of the implant. Many women decide to replace the implant but others do not. If you decide not to change it, you may be left with unsightly creases or unsightly creases after removing the implant.
DISSATISFACTION WITH COSMETIC RESULTS – There may be unsatisfactory results such as wrinkling, asymmetry, implant displacement, incorrect size, unpredictable shape, implant palpability, scar strain and hypertrophic scar [irregular embossed scar]. Serious surgical planning and technique used may diminish but do not always prevent such results.
INFECTION – May occur in any surgery. Most infections after the intervention occur within a few days to a few weeks after surgery. However, infection is possible at any time after surgery. Implant infections are more difficult to treat than infections in normal body tissues. If an infection does not respond to the antibiotic, it may be necessary to remove the implant and insert another after the infection has disappeared. In rare cases, toxic shock syndrome in women, after the breast augmentation surgery, is a life-threatening condition. Symptoms include sudden fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, dizziness and / or erythema like sunburn. You should visit a doctor to diagnose and treat this condition.
HEMATOMA / SEROMA – a blood clot is formed into a body cavity, and seroma is the accumulation of serous fluid from the blood [in this case around the implant or incision]. Postoperative hematoma and seroma may lead to infection and / or capsular contracture. Can result in inflammation, pain and bruising. If a hematoma develops, it will usually appear soon after surgery. However, it can also occur at any time after a stroke to the breast. While the body absorbs small hematomas and seroma, large ones will require the placement of surgical drains for proper healing. Following a surgical drainage, a small scar can form. There is a possibility that the implant breaks from the drainage if it is damaged during the drainage procedure.
CHANGES IN NIPPLE SENSITIVITY – sensation in the nipple and breast can increase or decrease after surgery. The spectrum of changes ranges from increased sensitivity to the absence of any sensation in the nipple and breast after surgery. Changes in perception may be temporary or permanent, and may affect your sexual response or the ability to breastfeed a child (see below on breastfeeding).
BREASTFEEDING – currently not known if a small amount of silicone may diffuse [go through] the breast implant and enter into the breast milk. If that happens, it is not yet known what effects it can have on the baby’s nutrition. Although there are no current methods for detecting silicone levels in breast milk, a silicon level measurement study (a silicone component) did not show higher levels in milk from women with silicone gel implants compared to women without implants.
CALCIUM DEPOSITS IN TISSUE AROUND THE IMPLANT – Deposits of calcium can be seen on mammograms and can be misinterpreted as a possible cancer, leading to new surgery for biopsy and / or removal of the implant to distinguish calcium deposits from cancer.
DELAYED HEALING In some cases healing of the incision site lasts longer than normal.
NECROSIS – is the formation of dead tissue around the implant. This may prevent healing and require surgical correction and / or removal of the implant. A scar strain may occur after necrosis. Factors associated with advanced necrosis include infection, steroid use in the surgical cavity, smoking and excessive heat, or cold therapy.
EXTRUSION – Covering with unstable or compromised tissue and / or interruption of the healing process can result in extrusion that occurs when the breast implant comes into contact with the skin.
BREAST TISSUE COVERAGE / STRAIN CHEST WALL – pressure breast implant may cause breast tissue thinning and contraction. This can happen while the implants are in place or after removing the implant without being replaced. Besides these common complications, there have been concerns about the rare diseases that you should be aware of.
CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS – Concerns over the association of breast implants to the development of autoimmune or connective tissue diseases, such as lupus, scleroderma or rheumatoid arthritis appeared with the report in literature of several cases of women with implants. An analysis of some large-scale epidemiological studies on women with or without implants shows that these diseases are not more common in women with implants than in non-implants. In any case, enough women with mammary implants believe the implant has caused connective tissue disease.
CANCER – Published studies show that breast cancer is not more common in women with implants than in those without implants.