Dr. Robert Whitfield explains what to watch for when choosing a surgeon for implant procedures. Red flags: claiming zero revisions, skipping follow-ups, or rushing the operation. Green flags: sharing revision rates, explaining hygiene steps like glove changes and tissue irrigation, and sending removed tissue to a lab.
Your surgeon says, you'll be fine, don't go reading things online.
Red. I get why they say it, but you're about to put a device in your body for 20 years. You're allowed to read. Here's my revision rate, and here's why it is what it is. Green. Every surgeon has revisions. If yours says zero, they're either not operating or they're not counting. I can do this whole thing in about 45 minutes. Red. Nobody's ever gotten a better result because their surgeon was fast.
Here's exactly what I do in the room to keep bacteria off the device.
Green. And that's what you should be asking about first. Changing gloves before they touch it, not handling it more than they have to, irrigating If they can walk you through it without thinking, that means hygiene is a habit, and that's a surgeon you can trust.
You don't need to come back unless something feels wrong.
Red. A silicone implant can rupture inside the scar tissue and look completely normal from the outside. Waiting to feel something isn't a smart follow-up plan.
Whatever I take out, I'll send to a lab.
Green. That's how you find out what was actually going on in there instead of guessing about it afterwards.
