Breast Implants - Risks Inherent With Silicone

Capsular Contracture

The scar tissue or capsule that normally forms around the breast implant may tighten and squeeze the breast implant. This is called capsular contracture. Over several months to years, some women have had changes in breast shape, hardness, or pain as a result of this contraction. Although this seems to occur to some extent in most women with breast implants, there are no reliable data on how often this happens. If these conditions are severe, more surgery may be needed to correct or remove the breast implants.

Making Breast Cancer Harder to Find

The breast implant could interfere with finding breast cancer during mammography. It may "hide" suspiciouslooking patches of tissue in the breast, making it difficult to interpret results. The breast implant may also make it difficult to perform mammography. Since the breast is squeezed during mammography, it is possible for a breast implant to rupture during the procedure. It is essential that every woman who has a breast implant tell her mammography technologist before the procedure. The technologist can use special techniques to minimize the possibility of rupture and to get the best possible views of the breast tissue. Because more x-ray views are necessary with these special techniques, women with breast implants will receive more radiation than women without breast implants who receive a normal exam. However, the benefit of the mammogram in finding cancer outweighs the risk of additional x-rays.

Other Known Risks

Calcium Deposits in the Tissue Around the Breast Implant

Calcium depositsmay form in the tissue around a breast implant and may cause pain and hardening of scar tissue. In some cases, these deposits may need to be surgically removed.

Additional Surgeries

You should understand there is a fairly high chance you will need to have additional surgery at some point to replace or remove the breast implant. Also, problems such as rupture, capsular contracture, infection, shifting and calcium deposits can require removal of the breast implants. Discuss the risk of these additional surgeries with your physician. Many women decide to have the breast implants replaced, but some women do not.

Infection

Infection can occur with any surgery. The frequency of infection with breast implant surgery is not known, but as a prospective patient, you should ask your physician what his or her experience has been. Most infections resulting from surgery appear within a few days to weeks after the operation. However, infection is possible at any time after surgery. Infections with foreign bodies present (such as breast implants) are harder to treat than infections in normal body tissues. If an infection does not respond to antibiotics, the implant may have to be removed. After the infection is treated, a new breast implant can usually be put in.