Patient 271 Gallery

Before and after right saline breast implant in-office deflation in a 38-year-old woman. Her twenty year-old right breast implant inserted through a trans-axillary incision had spontaneously deflated several weeks before, and her left breast had painful capsular contracture, preventing her from lying on her stomach or doing yoga. She was going on vacation and was panicked about her breast asymmetry that would be obvious in a swimsuit or dress.

Her best option was to plan an elective deflation of the other breast implant, which was performed a week after her consultation in order to give her time to think about it. Only saline-filled implants have deflation as an option for women who are unsure about whether they would like their implants removed altogether or to possibly downsize to smaller implants.

Removal of all the saline from the implant was performed through a single needle poke in the skin, in an area where the implant was closest to the skin surface. The last image shows the immediate post-deflation appearance, which is striking and possibly upsetting, but is temporary. Within around 48 hours post-deflation, the breast skin contracts and assumes its former shape, which for this patient was mildly tubular (the old breast fold is evident in the photo taken immediately after deflation).

Follow-up photos are shown 2 years after implant deflation. The patient has taken some time to consider her options, and she feels comfortable in her skin without the additional volume of breast implants.

She will schedule a procedure to remove the deflated implant shells, lift the nipples and areolas and remove fat from the axillary rolls in the future, when she feels like having another surgery. For now, the shells inside her breasts are not bothering her. Her old armpit scar that was used to insert her implants cannot be reused for implant shell removal – she will require a new incision in the breast fold, and the breast lift will create a new lollipop scar on her breast as well.