Robert Whitfield MD explains why surgeons should remove the entire implant capsule, not just the implant itself. Biofilm can persist in scar tissue around the implant, and patients often keep their symptoms after implant-only removal.
We take everything out, and we're trying to do it intact. So I tell everybody I'm trying to take everything out like an undisturbed Easter egg. Because the capsule, the patient's scar that they create around the implant is what I've biopsied thousands of times, and that's where the biofilm lies. So it's inside that capsular surface up against the implant. It's not the implant shell or capsule. It's the actual scar tissue. So I want all that to come out because I wouldn't want to leave an infected scar capsule in. So if someone takes out an implant under local anesthesia in their office, I think, based on our discussion, do you think the biofilm is gone, or do you think the biofilm can still be in the patient? It's. If you take out just the implant, yeah. I would assume that it's likely that there's still some degree of contamination. Right. So I get patients all the time from all over the country sending me messages that they still have symptoms, and all they had was implant removal because they said, here are the standard things. The implant capsule was too thin to remove. The implant capsule was too adherent to the chest wall, and they felt it was too dangerous.
