Breast Surgery Complications

Implants are not actually “rejected” in the medical sense, but some people tolerate them poorly due to complications, the most common being capsular contracture, or heavy, sometimes painful, internal scarring around the implant. It is strange, but true, that no one really understands what causes capsular contracture, or knows precisely how to prevent it. While the exact same implants used for breast reconstruction are also used to augment healthy breasts, contracture may be more of a problem after reconstruction, due to the paucity of normal tissue around the implant (relative to a normal breast). Additionally, radiation seems to sometimes make contracture worse.



Infection will be almost invariably be accompanied by pain, redness, and, if it progresses sufficiently, fever and possibly spontaneous drainage. If your implant is infected, your symptoms will progress rapidly over a period of a few days, and you should seek help at once if you suspect it.

Richard M. Kline Jr., M.D.