Breast Capsule Formation - Dr. Brueck comments.

Another message in Dr. Brueck MD's continuing series of blogs about health and plastic surgery. As a Fort Myers plastic surgeon with board certification, Dr. Brueck strives to keep his patients and others informed about developments in cosmetic surgery. For more information about Dr. Brueck, visit his web site at Beauty-by-Brueck,com.

Having done hundreds of breast augmentations over the past 32+ years, I have to say the most puzzling, most aggravating unintended result is the development of severe encapsulation or breast hardening.

Some things are well known in that if a breast develops a hematoma or collection of blood post-op, the rate of hardness increases. I think it is fair to say that thin tissues or lack of breast tissue leads to greater risk of hardness. I also feel severe encapsulation is more prevalent in smokers. I think severe encapsulation is multifactorial.

A new area of research is shedding light on “biofilm”.

There is now evidence that when the implant is placed in a pocket that bacteria cling to the surface of the implant forming a biofilm or biological coating. Strategies are being developed to prevent this.

One study involves an antibiotic impregnated mesh that is implanted with the implant. In a pig model, all 14 animals that had implants without the mesh, developed capsular contracture AND none of the animals that had the antibiotic mesh developed capsular contracture.

Looks promising. Sign up to receive this blog via RSS feed to stay in touch with developments.