Improved Silicone Breast Implants

A new silicone breast implant provides breast augmentation and reconstruction that result in more-natural looking breasts with a low complication rate.

The new devices are more cohesive than those currently being considered, with a gummy consistency that allows them to hold their shape better than saline implants. According to a clinical study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the gummy consistency decreases the likelihood of rippling and provides greater safety because the more-solid silicone may not escape from the shell if it were to rupture. The silicone material and its textured shell also give the implant a very natural and proportionate breast shape. Another benefit found was the availability of a wide variety of shapes and sizes to more closely match breast shapes and chest dimensions.

"It is an extreme understatement to say our patients are happy with the more cohesive gel implants,” said Mitchell Brown, M.D., a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS, Arlington Heights, IL, USA) and the study's author. "These implants simply look and feel much more natural than saline implants. My patients are thrilled with their results.”

The complication rate of the new implants is very low. In the study, only 3.4% of the 118 breast-augmentation patients experienced complications, which included hematoma, capsular contracture, and asymmetry. Around 19% of the 32 breast reconstruction patients experienced complications, but most were minor with only one patient requiring re-operation.

Thirteen years after restricting access to silicone implants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering the reintroduction of silicon breast implants in the United States. In the second half of 2005, after manufacturers presented data at a hearing, the FDA issued "approval with conditions” for the sale of silicone implants, stipulating a number of conditions that manufacturers must satisfy. This new type of silicone implants has not yet received an FDA panel hearing.




Related Links:
American Society of Plastic Surgeons