Polyurethane foam breast implants reduce complications, reoperations and capsular contracture, a new study has great news for women that undergone breast cancer surgery– Polyurethane Foam implants are very effective when used in breast reconstruction.
Study overview:
- Time: June 2002 – December 2008
- Size- 166 unilateral breast reconstructions, with 113 polyurethane foam implants used and 23 textured used.
- In the 166 reconstructions, 136 temporary expanders and 30 definite implants with no previous tissue expansion were used. Of the 166 reconstructions, 136 were following skinsparing mastectomy and 30 were following radical mastectomy. The 136 temporary expanders used for immediate reconstruction have been replaced, during later surgery with 113 polyurethane implants (Silimed Short/Nuance) and 23 with expandable textured implants (Allergan 150SH). For the 30 immediate breast reconstructions with definite implant with no prior tissue expansion, 24 expandable textured implants and 6 polyurethane implants were used.
- The average patients age was 58 years old (range, 33–83 years old).
- Follow-up was carried out at 1, 3 and 6 months, while median follow-up was 51 months (range, 12–90 months)
Some key findings and conclusions:
- ‘Excluding capsular contracture, total complication rate was 14.7% with expanders, 5.0% with polyurethane implants and 12.8% with textured implants’
- ‘In this study, severe capsular contracture was reported in 21.7% of cases with textured prosthesis and in 6.3% of cases with polyurethane implants in patients receiving RT.’ RT is short for radiotherapy (postoperative).
- ‘With the aim at reducing the risk for capsular contracture, particularly in cosmetic augmentation breast surgery, various types of implants have been used’. Always great to see doctors study the role of the implant in capsular contracture, this is not discussed and detailed enough.
- ‘Moreover, based on this study data, polyurethane coating of implant materials seems to be an added value in the prevention of severe contracture, as it was already demonstrated in cosmetic surgery. This is particularly true in reconstruction surgery especially in patients receiving RT. In fact, in some cases, the use of implants would be burdened by significant incidence of capsular contracture. A review of cases discussed in this study has shown that polyurethane implants have a low capsular contracture and other complications incidence, either in patients who had received RT and in those who didn’t. Based on the results we have achieved, it can be concluded that post op RT should not necessarily be considered a severe contraindication to breast reconstruction with implant materials.’
Before & After Breast Reconstruction
The study has much encouraging news regarding breast reconstruction in general: ‘There are improvements, mostly as regards radiation treatment, even in more advanced breast cancers. Following overall improvement in prognosis, a higher number of patients are suitable for breast reconstruction’
All information comes from the following study: Breast reconstruction with polyurethane implants:preliminary report; Stefano Pompei & Floriana Arelli & Lara Labardi & Fabio Marcasciano & Guido Caravelli & Claudio Cesarini & Ornella Abate
Received: 3 March 2011 / Accepted: 21 June 2011 # Springer-Verlag 2011
View on the web:http://www.springerlink.com/content/pg145q3615572g50/
