Before and after breast revision in a 60 year old woman with 20 year old breast implants. They had contracted and moved too high in the pocket, creating deformity and discomfort. She liked the size of her breasts and wanted to keep an implant in place.
Implants were removed and replaced with the current generation smooth round silicone cohesive gel devices. Capsulectomies removed contracted scar tissue in the pocket. She had drains in place for a week and took one week off work. She started implant massage on postoperative day 3, while drains were still in place.
Capsular contracture is often due to bacteria around the implant. A sample of the capsule scar tissue is routinely sent for bacterial culture to attempt to delineate the cause of the contracture and to best guide antibiotic treatment after surgery.
In this case, capsular tissue from each breast did not grow any bacteria after being analyzed by the microbiology lab for 5 days. If bacteria were detected, we would treat with antibiotics specific for that particular microorganism for at least two weeks and follow her forward very carefully to ensure contracture did not recur.
Follow up photos are shown one year after surgery. Her contracture has not recurred, and she has moved on with her life!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
