A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Scottsdale
Posts tagged Breast Augmentation
Plastic Surgery for the Holidays.
02 years ago
Plastic Surgery for the Holidays.
Scottsdale – Plastic surgery for the Holidays? Believe it or not, the popularity of plastic surgery around the holidays is extremely high. For most people, it all starts about 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. The number of consultations doubles around this time, in preparation for the season.
By the time Thanksgiving rolls in, 80 to 90% of the weekly schedule is spent performing plastic surgery. Then there’s another peak for the last 2 weeks of the year in which a high percentage of my schedule is spent in surgery. This time is popular because patients appreciate the extra time to recover. It is easier for them to keep the highest privacy and go unnoticed from work and friends as they recuperate. After recovery, they can return to their normal routine following the holidays with a refreshed appearance.
In the middle of all this, there are lots of patients that are coming in “rushing” to get plastic surgery. We are so busy, that we cannot always accommodate these folks. The holidays are traditionally our busiest time of the year. I would like for prospective patients to know this well ahead, so they can plan and not “rush” to get plastic surgery Arizona.
Some procedures are easier to accommodate on our plastic surgery schedule than others. Performing Scottsdale breast augmentation and liposuction in Phoenix takes less time and preparation for most cases. Other procedures such as facelift, tummy tuck, breast lift, thigh lift and body lift take quite a bit more time and preparation.
At the very least, prospective patients should be certain to have a support group available, such as, friends or family, to help them during their recovery. They should discuss with us their plans for their follow-up clinic visits. They should have plenty of time to discuss plastic surgery with their regular doctor and be sure they are healthy enough to undergo the procedure. We may also recommend they obtain some routine labs before surgery.
Our goal is to make your holiday plastic surgery experience as pleasant as possible. We recommend you give us, and yourself, plenty of notice so that we don’t have to “rush” your experience. We recommend you have a consultation with us 6 to 8 weeks before your planned surgery date.
Update: Safety and Effectiveness of Memory Gel Implants at 6 years.
12 years ago
Scottsdale – I decided to do a follow up review on this very important article. I originally covered the findings in this article on the blog earlier this year, but I have decided to take a close look the numbers. This article originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. This blog will include only a review of the cosmetic augmentation and revision augmentation subgroups. A separate blog article will cover the reconstructive subgroups later.
Silicone gel filled implants have been approved in the U.S. since November 2006. The FDA requires follow up studies to be completed through 10 years. This article summarizes the findings involved with Mentor Corporation Memory Gel Core Study at 6 years. There were 1008 patients enrolled in this study. The subgroups included 552 augmentation, 145 revision augmentation, 251 reconstruction, and 60 revision reconstruction patients.
A close look at the augmentation subgroup demonstrates the 6-year rupture rate at a very low 1.1%. This is the lowest reported implant leakage rate ever reported for a long-term implant study. In the group, there occurred a 6-year revision totaling 19.4% of patients. The most common reasons for re-operation in this sub-group was for the treatment of capsular contracture (33.3%) and size change (14.8%). There was an infection rate of 1.6% in the subgroup.
Capsular contracture is the scar tissue that develops around the implant and can tighten over time as a reaction to the implant. It is known that implants placed above the muscle have a higher risk of developing capsular contracture. It is believed that a certain number of contractures cannot be prevented. Currently, plastic surgeons utilized several techniques to reduce the incidence of contracture. However, patients should realize that even this study, performed by experts in breast surgery, contracture of the capsule over the implant will occur and cannot be totally preventable.
The overall rate of capsular contracture in the augmentation subgroup was 9.8% after 6 years. The article does not tell us how many patients had implants above the muscle. The most common operation performed to treat capsule contracture is capsulectomy or capsulectomy (removal of the tissue) with implant exchange. In the subgroup, 19.7% of the implants removed were due to capsule contracture while of the implants removed, 51.5% of the implants simply to change the size of the implants.
The revision augmentation numbers are even more interesting. The rupture rate for implants in this scenario was 11.4%. Additionally, capsular contracture (22.4%) and reoperation (33.4%) numbers were also higher. The more likely explanation for the higher numbers is that revision breast surgery is more technically challenging and certainly is riskier than primary breast augmentation. Patients who re contemplating revision breast surgery should be aware of the higher risks associated with revision surgery and implant exchange.
This article demonstrates that silicone gel filled breast implants are safe and effective. This study also demonstrates that complications can occur after cosmetic breast surgery and patients should be mentally prepared for these challenges. A 1.1% rupture rate at 6-years for cosmetic breast augmentation using Memory Gel Filled implants is the lowest reported rupture rate – ever.
