Many female patients have experienced problems after a period of cosmetic surgery to “upgrade” their bust.
According to information from Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi, the facility just received a 45-year-old female patient who noticed that her right breast was deformed and had a painful lump. She thought it was breast cancer, so she went for a screening and discovered multiple breast fibroids and cysts, along with a ruptured breast implant.
| Experts recommend that when people have cosmetic needs, they should seek out specialized, reliable, quality facilities. |
The results showed that the right breast had a 1 cm cyst causing inflammation, the breast implant ruptured but fortunately the fibrous capsule was intact and the silicone had not spread into the breast tissue. the left breast had multiple scattered breast tumors measuring 0.5-1cm.
Dr Le Nguyet Minh, at Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi, said breast implant rupture is a complication of breast augmentation surgery, which occurs when the breast implant (which contains silicone or saline) tears or breaks, causing it to leak. liquid inside.
The rate of breast implant rupture is reported to be around 1% per year, according to an American study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal in 2017.
The symptoms of ruptured breast implants are usually pain, redness in the breast, lumps and deformation of the breast, quite similar to symptoms of breast diseases such as fibroids, breast cysts and breast cancer. Some rupture cases show no symptoms (silent rupture), which makes early detection difficult.
Many cases of ruptured breast implants are discovered only incidentally during breast cancer screening. “If a ruptured breast implant is not detected and removed in time, it can cause infection and deformity of the breast that is difficult to recover from. In addition, silicone can move to other parts of the body, causing many complications, and it is very difficult to remove,” said Dr. Minh.
There are many causes of breast implant rupture, the most common is due to the aging of the implant when the time of use exceeds the recommended lifetime (average 10-15 years), in addition to external influences such as collisions, trauma to the chest area ? Capsular contraction creates scar tissue on the surface of the implant, increasing the risk of rupture. poor quality breast implants that do not meet safety standards.
Also facing problems after breast augmentation surgery, information from Hanoi Medical University Hospital said the facility had just received two consecutive cases of ruptured breast implants for examination. Specifically, the patients were unaware that their breast implants had ruptured.
Hanoi Medical University Hospital said the first case was a 55-year-old woman in Hanoi. The patient had breast implants in 2010, exactly 14 years ago.
On April 22, the patient went to Hanoi Medical University Hospital for a general check-up. Ultrasound and MRI results showed that the left breast implant had ruptured. Prior to this, she had not noticed any abnormal signs, so she did not know that the breast implant had ruptured.
The woman confided that she was very surprised because when she got her breast implants, she was told that the implants would be ‘guaranteed forever’. Therefore, she did not think about having to have her breast implants checked or replaced from the time of her breast augmentation until now.
The second case is a 31-year-old female patient from Ha Nam. The woman had breast implants 4 years ago and went to the doctor because her left breast felt stretched and misshapen compared to the right side.
The ultrasound and MRI results showed that the patient’s left breast implant was ruptured and the chest cavity around the breast implant was very fluid (about 2 cm thick).
Both of the above cases are indicated for early surgery to remove the breast implants, clean the secretions and silicone gel that escaped around them, clean the implant cavity and reinsert a new breast implant.
Doctor Hoang Hong, head of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Hanoi Medical University Hospital, said that if a breast implant rupture is not detected and treated in time, the accumulated fluid can lead to inflammatory reactions, widespread infection, causing breast deformation, which require long-term treatment. In addition, when the breast is infected, reinserting the implant will increase the risk of fibrosis and capsular contracture,” said Dr. Hoang Hong.
According to Dr. Hoang Hong, breast implants can break due to many reasons, such as sharp objects: sewing needles, syringes, knives, or strong external forces when the quality of the breast implant is poor…
Broken bags may also be due to the quality of the breast implant manufacturer, or after a long period of implantation, the quality will deteriorate and the bag will tear easily.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that women replace breast implants after 10 years and should not keep them for more than 15 years.
Doctor Hoang Hong said that the Department of Plastic Surgery of Hanoi Medical University Hospital has received many patients with ruptured breast implants due to breast augmentation surgery that was a long time ago (over 10 years).
There were times when the Department received 3-4 patients a day who came for examination because they were in similar situations.
Most patients share that when they go to cosmetic clinics to ask for breast augmentation advice, they are either convinced that there is a “lifetime guarantee” or they are not carefully explained, so patients subjectively do not think that they need to revise or replace the breast implants.
“This is very worrying, because no breast implant can have a ‘lifetime guarantee, permanent guarantee,'” confirmed this expert.
Doctor Hoang Hong recommends that women who have breast implants should see a doctor immediately if they experience unusual symptoms such as swelling, pain, tightness, breast deformation, etc.
If no abnormalities are found, after about 7-8 years, women should have an ultrasound and scan to check the bag and should replace the bag after 10 years.
