Breast Implant Outcomes and Complications
Summary
Breast implantation for reconstructive and cosmetic purposes has achieved high rates of patient satisfaction, yet persistent complications such as capsular contracture, implant rupture, infection and rare malignancies continue to challenge clinical practice. Capsular contracture arises from an exaggerated foreign‐body response, characterised by excessive fibroblast and myofibroblast activation within the peri‐implant capsule, leading to pain, distortion and potential need for revision surgery. Microbial biofilm formation on implant surfaces can perpetuate chronic inflammation and fibrosis, while implant surface design—including texture and wettability—modulates host immune reactions and tissue integration. Advances in imaging and molecular diagnostics have improved detection of implant integrity and peri-implant pathology, and patient-reported outcome measures are increasingly incorporated to capture aesthetic and psychosocial dimensions. Global trends in surgical technique, informed consent processes and long-term surveillance protocols aim to reduce adverse events and optimise functional and aesthetic results.
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Breast Implant Outcomes and Complications publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in breast implant outcomes and complications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Capsular contracture: contraction and hardening of the fibrous capsule that normally forms around an implant.
Biofilm: a colony of microorganisms adhering to a surface, often contributing to chronic inflammation and fibrosis.
Myofibroblast: specialised cell with contractile properties involved in wound healing and extracellular matrix deposition.
Transcriptomics: analysis of the complete set of RNA transcripts in a tissue, used to identify gene expression changes.
Surface roughness: quantitative measure of an implant’s micro- and nano-scale texture that influences cellular adhesion and immune activation.
References
- A multi-targeting bionanomatrix coating to reduce capsular contracture development on silicone implants. Biomaterials Research (2023).
- Transcriptomic and machine learning analyses identify hub genes of metabolism and host immune response that are associated with the progression of breast capsular contracture. Genes & Diseases (2023).
- Silicone implant surface microtopography modulates inflammation and tissue repair in capsular fibrosis. Frontiers in Immunology (2024).
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