Author Archives: Meagan Henderson

Silicone Breast Implants: Part One

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Silicone Breast Implants – Part 1

Las Vegas Breast Implants

As a medical device, there are five generations of silicone breast implants, each defined by common model-manufacturing techniques.

The modern prosthetic breast was invented in 1961, by the American reconstructive surgeons Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow. The first augmentation mammoplasty was performed in 1962. There are five generations of the breast implant model types that are filled with silicone gel; each generation of breast prosthesis is defined by common model-manufacturing techniques.

The Cronin–Gerow Implant, prosthesis model 1963, was a silicone rubber envelope-sac, shaped like a teardrop, which was filled with viscous silicone-gel. To reduce the rotation of the emplaced breast implant upon the chest wall, the model 1963 prosthesis was affixed to the implant pocket with a fastener-patch, made of Dacron material which was attached to the rear of the breast implant shell. In the 1970s, manufacturers presented the second generation of breast implant prostheses that featured functional developments and aesthetic improvements to the technology:

The first technological developments were a thinner-gauge device-shell, and a filler gel of low-cohesion silicone, which improved the functionality and the size, appearance, and texture of the silicone-gel breast implant. Yet, in clinical practice, second-generation breast implants proved fragile, and suffered greater incidences of shell rupture, and of filler leakage through the intact device shell. The consequent, increased incidence-rates of medical complications precipitated faulty-product.

The second technological development was a polyurethane foam coating for the shell of the breast implant; the coating reduced the incidence of capsular contracture, by causing an inflammatory reaction that impeded the formation of a capsule of fibrous collagen tissue around the breast implant. Nevertheless, despite that prophylactic measure, the medical use of polyurethane-coated breast implants was briefly discontinued, because of the potential health-risk posed by a carcinogenic by-product of the chemical breakdown of the polyurethane foam coating of the breast implant.

After reviewing the medical data, TDA-induced breast cancer was an infinitesimal health-risk to women with breast implants and did not justify legally requiring physicians to explain the matter to their patients.

The third technological development was the double lumen breast implant device, a double-cavity prosthesis composed of a silicone breast implant contained within a saline breast implant. The two-fold, technical goal. The cosmetic benefits of silicone-gel enclosed in saline solution. A breast implant device the volume of which is post-operatively adjustable. Nevertheless, the more complex design of the double-lumen breast implant suffered a device-failure rate greater than that of single-lumen breast implants.

Click Here for Part 2 of this series

Types of Breast Implants: Part One (Saline Breast Implant)

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Breast augmentation and breast reconstruction use breast implants to enhance the aesthetic size, shape, and texture of breasts.  These procedures are offered with the use of three types of breast implant devices. The next three articles will discuss in some depth these three types of devices.

The Saline Breast Implant

Breast Implants

Implants filled with a saline solution that essentially contains a biological-concentration of salt water. This form of implant was first manufactured in France. The saline breast implant was introduced for use as a prosthetic medical device in mid 1960s. Contemporary models of saline breast implants are manufactured with thicker walls of room-temperature vulcanized shells made of a silicone elastomer. Studies report that rates of deflation due to filler leakage of the pre-filled saline breast implant made it a second-choice prosthesis for corrective breast surgery. The saline breast implant was in the past, the prosthesis most used for breast augmentation surgery. This is because of the U.S. FDA’s restrictions against importation of silicone-filled breast implants.

The goal of the saline-implant technology is based on a need for a physically less invasive surgical technique for placing an empty breast-implant device through a smaller surgical incision. After the empty breast implants are inserted into the implant pockets, the surgeon then fills each device with the saline solution. Because required incisions are short and small, the resulting scars are much smaller and shorter than surgical scars required for inserting silicone-gel implants.

The saline implant can yield good-to-excellent results of increased breast-size, smoother hemisphere-contour, and a realistic texture. It can however be a cause of some cosmetic problems, such as rippling and wrinkling of breast-envelope skin however. Some technical issues, such as the presence of the implant being noticeable to the eye and touch may also occur. Such cosmetic problems are more likely the case of woman with very little breast tissue or in the case of post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. The silicone-gel implant is a technically superior prosthetic device for breast augmentation and breast reconstruction in these cases. A patient with more breast tissue, sub-muscular emplacement is the recommended surgical approach and saline breast implants can afford an aesthetic result similar to silicone breast implants. For more information, please call us at 702.410.9800 or click on this link for Part Two of this series called  Silicone Gel Implants.

Breast Augmentation Overview and Information

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Breast Augmentation Overview

There are many reasons to seek breast augmentation or breast implants. It is important that the patient is aware that this a choice made for themselves and their body. It is also not a procedure to enter into lightly. As with any surgical procedure there are risks involved. A patient considering the procedure should consider the risks and weigh them against the possible benefits. Once the decision is made though there are some options to consider.

A breast implant for example is a prosthesis used to correct the size, form, and texture of a woman’s breast. This is  form of reconstructive or cosmetic surgery depending on the need and reasons for the procedure. Breast implants are applied for post–mastectomy breast reconstruction as one example. They are also used for correcting congenital defects and deformities of the chest wall. In terms of breast implants for aesthetic breast augmentation this is a cosmetic surgery. Breast implants can also be used for creating breasts in the male-to-female transsexual patient.

There are three general types of breast implant devices used by reconstructive surgeons. Each of these devices is defined by their filler material: saline solution, silicone gel, and composite filler. The saline implant has an elastomer silicone shell filled with sterile saline solution; the silicone implant has an elastomer silicone shell filled with viscous silicone gel; and the alternative composition implants featured miscellaneous fillers, such as soy oil, polypropylene string, et cetera.

In surgical practice, for the reconstruction of a breast, the tissue expander device is a temporary breast prosthesis used to form and establish an implant pocket for emplacing the permanent breast implant. For the correction of male breast defects and deformities, the pectoral implant is the breast prosthesis used for the reconstruction and the aesthetic repair of a man’s chest wall.

Cosmetic Surgery Overview

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Cosmetic Surgery Overview

Reconstructive surgery is done as a medical procedure to improve function of a body part. Cosmetic surgery is on the other hand, an optional procedure that is performed on normal parts of the body. The purpose of cosmetic surgery is for improving a person’s appearance and/or to remove the signs of aging. Millions of cosmetic surgeries are performed in the United States and many more around the world. While becoming more common, there are still precautions to take as with any other form of surgery. Even though the number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over fifty percent since the start of the century, there are still precautions to take.

Click the links below for a cosmetic surgery overview of the five most common forms of surgeries listed below:

Breast augmentation

Liposuction

Nasal surgery

Eyelid surgery

Abdominoplasty

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery looks at the statistics for thirty-four different cosmetic procedures. Nineteen of the procedures are considered to be surgical. Surgical procedures include rhinoplasty, also known more commonly as facelift. The nonsurgical procedures included in the list of cosmetic surgeries include Botox and laser hair removal. Surveys reveal that many of the cosmetic procedures performed are of a surgical nature.

 

Who Needs Reconstructive Surgery?

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breast reconstructionReconstructive surgery is any surgery performed in order to correct functional impairments. These functional impairments can be caused by burns, traumatic injuries, facial fractures and breaks, congenital abnormalities, cleft palates or cleft lips, also from developmental abnormalities, or abnormalities caused by infections and diseases that can include cancer or tumors. While reconstructive surgery is usually performed in order to improve normal function it may also be done to approximate a normal appearance.

The most common reconstructive procedures are tumor removal, laceration repair, scar repair, hand surgery, and breast reduction. In is notable that breast reductions can be done on both female and male patients.

Some other common reconstructive surgical procedures include breast reconstruction that may be considered following a mastectomy. As mentioned, cleft lip and palate surgery, contracture surgery for burn survivors, and for creating a new outer ear when one is congenitally absent or lost due to injury.

Reconstructive surgeons use microsurgery in order to transfer tissue for coverage of a defect when no local tissue is available. Free flaps of skin, muscle, bone, fat, or a combination may be removed from the body, moved to another site on the body, and reconnected to a blood supply by suturing arteries and veins as small as one to two millimeters in diameter.