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BREAST AUGMENTATION Click for added information about cosmetic surgery questions. This site has been very informative for our patients www.implantinfo.com Breast Implant Resources Breast augmentation is a common surgical procedure designed to enhance and increase the size and proportions of female breasts. While designed primarily to enlarge small or underdeveloped breasts, this operation can also help to reshape breasts that have lost volume following pregnancy or weight loss. It is also performed in situations of breast asymmetry, where one breast has not developed to a similar size or shape when compared to the opposite breast. When a breast is lost due to breast cancer, breast reconstruction may be possible using implant techniques. There are several approaches utilized for modern cosmetic breast augmentation. Incision placement generally depends on a combination of the surgeon's abilities plus the patient's personal preferences as well as unique anatomical dimensions. When possible Dr. Apesos will make a small incision in the axillary (armpit) area and lift both the breast tissue and the pectoral (chest) muscle up to create a pocket. The submuscular pocket is often chosen whenever possible to prevent breast contraction (hardness) and to enhance upper pole shape. Once the space has been created, a deflated breast implant is placed in the newly created pocket and inflated to the appropriate size, which the patient has preselected as her best choice. The nipple approach is performed if the patient chooses or if more sagging is present. Very few patients choose the inframammary approach today because of the scarring on the breast surface. This approach can be used if there is already a scar present on the breast or if the patient so desires. No approach is associated with any different postoperative claims of nipple numbness. Complications for all breast surgery and incisions include infection, bleeding, asymmetry of the breasts, loss of nipple sensation, hardness, and rupture of the implant with breast deflation. Although these situations occur in low numbers, you should be aware of these possible drawbacks to the procedure. Concerns about the safety of silicone implants have never been medically proven. The use of saline (physiological intravenous salt) solution to fill the implants does result in less breast hardness. While all new patients desiring cosmetic breast augmentation are restricted to the use of saline-filled implants, Dr. Apesos is licensed by the FDA to utilize the silicone gel-filled implants for cases of 1) congenital deformity; 2) post mastectomy cancer reconstruction; 3) patients with silicone implants desirous of replacement with silicone, and 4) situations where saline implants have proven unsatisfactory. We perform breast augmentation surgery as an outpatient procedure in our own surgical suites or at the local surgery centers or hospitals. Most women are able to return to work in four to six days following surgery. The cost of $4800.00 includes the consultations, surgical fees, implants (any size) operating room, general anesthesia, and follow-up care. For more information, contact our office for an appointment. SILICONE BREAST IMPLANT COMPLICATIONS With very little information, the FDA approved silicone breast implants for general cosmetic use in l963. With less information, the implants were withdrawn for general usage in 1986. Today the implants are approved for the following indications:
The saline implants are much more worry free and have produced fewer problems in general practice. The complication associated with any balloon implant is implant failure or rupture. In the case of silicone rupture we are faced with the quandary of free floating silicone in the breast scar tissue capsule. No scientific studies have yet to prove silicone to be dangerous or disease promoting. However, since this problem has not been adequately resolved in the public mind, the use of implantable saline breast prosthesis for cosmetic breast enlargement relieves us of that predicament. When the saline-filed silicone balloon fails, the body absorbs the sterile saline filler. There are thousands of silicone implant patients who may be dealing with the effects of natural breast aging. Additional associated possibilities of implant rupture with subsequent stiffness, hardness, pain and disfigurement may be occurring. These possibilities were never presented to the patients at the time of placement to begin with, because the manufacturers felt that implants were good for a lifetime. The medical profession naively accepted this notion and so the start of the silicone breast implant controversy began. Correction involves a carefully made decision process between the patient and the reconstructive cosmetic surgeon. Choices include implant removal and replacement with another silicone implant or a saline filled product. This is usually combined with a mastopexy and most often implant placement under the muscle. A careful preoperative evaluation with full disclosure of the possibilities of all of the following will prevent future recurrences of any FDA-manufacturer-doctor-patient misunderstandings about implants. CAUTION Breast implants can have the following problems!
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