WHY SALINE IMPLANTS ARE THE OPTIMAL CHOICE FOR BREAST AUGMENTATION

In 1992, American Plastic Surgeons were forced into a noble experiment when the FDA halted the routine use of silicone gel implants for cosmetic breast augmentation. Now 15 years later, the data revealed from this noble experiment and after placing hundreds and thousands of implants in American women for breast augmentation, many pleasant surprises. SPECIFICALLY SALINE IMPLANTS ARE INDEED AN EXCELLENT CHOICE IN MOST CASES. SALINE IMPLANTS REMAIN AN OPTIMAL CHOICE FOR COSMETIC BREAST AUGMENTATION FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.

They are safe, they have a much lower capsular contracture (hardness rate) than silicone gel, less then half the incidence, the incision size for silicone implant is less than half, and the cost is less than half of a breast silicone gel implant. Perhaps most important is that when implants need to be replaced, and all breast implants need to be replaced between 10 and 15 years, saline implants are much easier to remove and replace than silicone gel implants, they usually require no drains, and can be done as a simple outpatient procedure.

All silicone gel implants require removal of the capsule and potentially some breast tissue and require drains and have more post operative morbidity. These facts are not well known or distributed for various reasons.

Saline implants are an excellent method for breast augmentation in patients because they are safe, simple, have a high patient satisfaction rate greater than 95%, and low complication rate. They remain an excellent and premier choice for breast augmentation today and continue to do so. The United States market for breast augmentation now offers the potential patient a choice between saline and silicone gel implants. When my patients ask me what would I prefer if my wife, significant other, or a family member wanted to have cosmetic breast augmentation, I would unequivocally tell them that it would be a saline breast augmentation.