We see several patients in our office who are considering breast implant removal, revision, or replacement for a variety of reasons.
The most common reason is the patient has physically changed since their implants were placed many years ago (we all do)! But their implants may have deflated or leaked after many years, they may have developed a capsular contracture (scarring around the implants), they may desire a size change or other reasons.
These cases can range from straightforward to some of the most challenging of our breast cases.
We’ve seen reports on social media that plastic surgeons “won’t remove implants”.
I was skeptical of this until I heard a talk by a young plastic surgeon who has built a very successful practice on the East Coast doing breast augmentation and doesn’t take implant removal and revision cases. That’s certainly her choice- breast augmentation cases take less time, are more straightforward, and the results are more predictable.
While she recognizes these implant removal or revision cases are necessary, she just chooses not to tackle them and refers them elsewhere.
I understand- these consultations and preoperative discussions take longer, the operations can be long and challenging, and it requires a great deal of skill and experience to have a successful outcome in these cases. Why spend the time doing one difficult case when you can do 3 easy ones in the same amount of time?
Maybe she’s the smarter one financially, but I like the challenge. I trained with great plastic surgeons at Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt and saw them welcome these difficult cases and take them on using the skill and experience they accumulated over the years.
I’m now in this same position- these cases are all unique and require skill, experience, and creativity to achieve the best possible outcome. Helping patients through this process is immensely gratifying and makes our job worthwhile.
This is a complex topic we’ll be discussing in several segments. We’ll go into the different strategies we use to address problems and concerns related to breast implants and how we help patients understand their options for correction.
Next: Saline implant deflation
