All surgical procedures have a small risk of complication inherent to the surgical itself and
to anesthesia. These risks include:

Infection, as manifested by swelling, tenderness, redness and fever, is an uncommon risk . However, if an implant becomes infected, it must be removed immediately. You need to wait for several months before we can reschedule another operation.

Hematoma formation (large blood clot in the wound), which is manifested by enlargement and discoloration of tissue, may, if happened, need to be removed. Meticulously stop bleeding, surgical tube drainage and postoperative pressure bandage are important to prevent this sort of complication.

Risks specific to breast implant surgery

Capsular contracture

Capsular contracture is the most common side effect of breast implant surgery.

To accept the implant, a surgical pocket behind the breast is made somewhat larger than the    implant itself. Normally a healing scar forms a very thin envelope (capsule) around the implant, which, on occasion, will shrink sufficiently to squeeze the implant, producing varying degree of firmness.

At its worst, the implant can feel hard, be painful and /or distorted. This can occur soon after surgery or years later and may be unilateral, bilateral or asymmetric.

Surgical release of the scar (via the peri-areolar incision) is ofter successful but recurrence is not uncommon. Removal or replacement of the implant may sometimes be required.

The cause of this contracture phenomenon is poorly understood but appropriate breast excercise against the capsule can significantly reduce the rates of this undersirable complication.

Rupture of the implant

Breast implant may not last a lifetime.

For saline filled implant, if the implatn shell is ruptured, there is a rapid change in shape of the implant and you absolutely need to change the new one.

For standard silicone gel, if the implant shell is ruptured, the escaping gel is usually contained by the scar envelope in the surgical pocket and may be undetectable except by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Silent rupture). Most of the reported case occured in the more fragile, thinner shell devices implanted in the late 1970′s.For the high cohesive gel, if the implant shell is ruptured, the gel will normally not escape or migrate from its shell due to a higher resistance to flow.

Changes in Nipple and Breast sensation
Any surger of the breast can result in undersensitive or oversensitive nipple-areolar complex and/or underminded area of breast skin.

These changes are believed to be a result of nerve damage from the surgery. These changes can be vary in degree and may be temporary or permanent.

Interference with Mammography in Detection of Cancer

As silicone is opaque to x-ray, an implant may theoritically interfere with the early detection of cancer by mammography as it may obscure part of the breast. Newer techniques of breast compression improve the amount of breast tht can be visualized. Alternatively, most surgeons feel that the implant may improve the detection of tumors by palpation.