BREAST IMPLANT DEFLATION, BREAST IMPLANT LEAKS
Breast augmentation
is the most common cosmetic surgical procedure performed in the United States.
My regular blog readers by now know ALL breast implants eventually leak. The average rate of deflation is around 2-3% at seven years post surgery. This means out of every 100 patients having breast augmentation surgery, 2-3 patients will have an implant deflate within seven years from date of surgery and need breast reision surgery. The rate does increase with the age of the implant. The good news is the newer implants are more durable than implants made 20 or more years ago, and they will probably improve in durability with the newer generations.
Fortunately, the three FDA approved breast implant manufacturers (Mentor, Allergan, Sientra) do offer a life time warranty on the implant in case of deflation. Up to ten years from date of surgery, all three companies also provide financial assistance towards the cost of surgery.
When a deflation occurs, it does provide the patient an opportunity to have secondary procedures/breast revision, or new procedures performed while under anesthesia, and obtain a refund at the same time.
See below; before and after photos of a patient with left breast deflation. The patient chose to replace both implants with slightly larger ones (replacing the non-deflated implant with a new one of the same size will also restart the ten year re-imbursement policy and most patients choose to replace the non-deflated implant at the same time). I also performed a peri-areolar mastopexy (“donut” lift) to make the areola smaller and tighten the skin.
Michael A. Jazayeri, M.D. is a board certified plastic surgeon in Santa Ana with over 12 years of experience. His office is located in Orange County, California. To schedule a complimentary consultation, please call (714) 834-0101.