‘Implants can leak’: The risks of breast augmentations

“Implants can leak. It’s called device failure, like any device, it can fail,” said Dr Alexandra Grubnik, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Nip Tuck at the Netcare Milpark Hospital and Netcare Rosebank Hospital.

The possibility of this device failure has, however, not stopped women from asking for breast augmentation procedures, which are common, especially after pregnancy.

Breast procedures include breast augmentations, breast reductions, and breast lifts.

“Some women will only have a lift, some women want to go bigger, so they will have a lift and implants and some women will want to go smaller, so they will have a reduction,” said Dr Grubnik.

How it’s done

“With breast augmentations, we normally put silicone implants in, so the patients would come and try on different sizes of implants and say what size they want to be. We take them to theatre and usually develop pockets [that are] either behind the breast or behind the muscle (peck muscle) and then we put a silicone implant in. That’s a classic breast augmentation/classic abrasive augmentation.”

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There is a new procedure which has gained popularity in Europe, Germany and the UAE, which does not include silicone implants.

In this case, the surgeon does a fat transfer from where there’s more than enough to the breast.

Just like any surgery, breast procedures have their own risks, though using your own fat seems safer than the silicone implants, said Dr Grubnik.

“The implant is made of silicone fill and silicone shell. Sometimes a defect on the shell develops overtime or with extreme force, an implant can rupture…

“The fat is probably safer because it’s your own tissue but the implants have been on the market for a very long time and they’re quite safe.

“It’s important to know the possible side effects such as implant leaks and sculptural contraction and we discuss that upfront with the patient.

“It’s not guaranteed that it will happen, there are a lot of women who have had implants for 20 years and the implants are nice and soft and they’re fine and there are other unfortunate women who had them for seven years and the implants start leaking. We discuss that upfront with the patient.”

The silicone may be riskier, but the procedure takes just one hour, while augmentation with fat will depend on which fat is transferred.

“The more fat you take out and transfer, the longer it takes in theatre.”

How much you can expect to fork out for these procedures:

Mommy makeover – R95,000

Mastopexy and augmentation – R65,000 to R70,000

Breast augmentation – R50,000

Breast reduction – R55,000 to R65,000

Breast – R50,000 each

With a special interest in breast surgery, breast reconstruction, body contouring and cosmetic surgery, Dr Grubnik completed her training at the University of the Witwatersrand with a Masters of Medicine in Plastic Surgery (MMed) and is a Fellow of the College of Plastic Surgeons of South Africa (FC Plast Surg SA).

She also holds full registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the General Medical Council (GMC) of the UK.

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