Complications

Bleeding:

Bleeding can occur after any surgery. In the case of breast augmentations it occurs very seldom, only about 2-3% of the patients. It is never a life-threatening problem, but it does have consequences. It is usually not subtle. One breast will rather suddenly become much larger than the other. Sometimes this occurs in a matter of half an hour or so. Occasionally a woman will notice it upon awakening in the morning. The effected breast will become painful and tense. I have never seen the incision break open or blood to come through it. At some point the pressure within the pocket will become so great that the bleeding will be slowed or stopped. Surgery is required. The incision is easily opened, the implant removed and the blood suctioned out. Usually a single vessel is found to be the culprit and easily cauterized. The pocket is irrigated with saline, the implant returned and the incision closed again. In all it takes about twenty minutes. The effected breast will be more swollen for awhile, but fairly soon it will look like the other one. Finally, there is a slightly higher chance that a capsular contracture will develop on the side that bled.

I ask my patients to take life easy for three weeks and not to exercise at all for at least two weeks. After that I allow walks and light weight lifting for the lower body. More vigorous exercise is started at three weeks. High impact and upper body activities including tennis, swimming, surfing, golfing, jogging and horseback riding must wait for at least six weeks and sometimes longer if indicated.

Mondor’s Cords:
Mondor’s Cords, sometimes called Mondor’s disease, is a benign condition that can occur two to four weeks following breast augmentation. Tender vertical cords develop beneath the breast from the inframammary fold downward. They are veins (thoracoepigastric to be exact) that have become thrombosed (clotted) and inflamed. They are not an infection. Treatment is supportive with warm, not hot soaks to the cords only and aspirin or ibuprofen as needed. They will disappear on their own within a few months. They were named after Henri Modor (1885-1992), a famous French surgeon who originally described them.

Mondor's Cords

Other Complications may include:

  Dissatisfaction with Size
  Sensory Changes
  Deflation
  Rippling:
      Visible
      Palpable
  Bleeding
  Infection
  Mondor's Cords
  Implant Placement:
      Implant too High
      Implant too Low (bottoming out)
      Implants too Far Apart
      Implants to Close Together (synmastia)
      Asymmetry
  Double Bubble
  Calcification Around the Implants
  Unsatisfactory Scars

Click here to continue reading about breast enlargement

Introduction | Breast Cancer and Mammograms | Capsular Contractures
Implant Characteristics | Anatomical Considerations | Surgical Considerations
| Complications | Breast Enlargement Photos