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Plastic Surgery News

 

Department of Surgery

Strong Health's Specialists in Plastic Surgery

Cosmetic Surgery

Breast Augmentation Surgery: What To Expect

Breast augmentation surgery normally takes about two hours. It can be done as an outpatient procedure, or you may stay in the hospital for a day or two. Depending on the surgical plan, you’ll be given local or general anesthesia.

  • Local anesthesia means you’ll be sedated and the area around the surgery will be numbed. You’re awake during the surgery, but relaxed and feeling no pain.

  • General anesthesia means you’ll be asleep during the operation

How the Procedure is Performed

There are several techniques for breast augmentation. Usually, the surgeon begins by making a small incision either under the breast above the crease, around the areola, or in the armpit. Then, the surgeon makes a “pocket” by lifting your breast tissue and skin. The pocket is either underneath your chest wall muscle (the pectoral muscle) or directly behind your breast tissue. View a diagram of the incisions used for a breast augmentation

The implant is placed within this pocket, then may put a small, thin drainage tube may be put temporarily under the skin to drain blood and fluids that collect there. Finally, the surgeon closes the incisions with small stitches and puts a bandage on the area to protect it. View a diagram of the placement of the breast implant

Risks

All surgery involves some risk and uncertainty. Serious complications or side effects of this surgery are rare, but they include:

  • Post-surgical bleeding
  • Infection
  • Changes in the sensitivity of the nipples (they can become oversensitive, undersensitive or even numb)
  • Capsular contracture

Capsular contracture means the capsule or scar around the implant tightens, squeezes the implant and makes it feel hard. This condition can be corrected in several ways, including removing the scar tissue or removing or replacing the implant.

Risks Associated With Breast Implants

Another possible condition is the breast implant breaking or leaking. If you have an implant filled with saline (salt-water) solution that breaks or leaks, your body will absorb the solution with no harm. Very rarely, women with breast implants have symptoms such as joint pain or swelling, fever, fatigue, breast pain and others associated with diseases of the immune system.

The FDA has requested further study of silicone breast implants to determine if there’s any connection between them and a number of conditions.

There’s no evidence that breast implants affect fertility, pregnancy, or the ability to breast feed. Nor is there any evidence that breast implants cause breast cancer. But if you have implants, you may need to change the way you have a mammography. Make sure whoever does your mammography is experienced with implants and knows you have them.

Learn More About Breast Augmentation Surgery