Dr. Robert Whitfield explains that removing breast implants while leaving scar tissue behind can leave bacteria in about 29% of cases, creating a hidden low-grade infection. Silicone implants can also break down and leak gel without any visible rupture.
If we were just to open a patient through their old incision and take out the implant but leave the scar tissue in, in 29%, leave the sticky note, which represents the bacteria, that could be left inside and be like a retained infection. Think of it like that. So that you didn't really remove the problem completely because it's stuck up against the inside. So that's we'll say 29% have this low-grade bacterial contamination or low-grade infection, and we don't know how that's influencing each patient. So there's that component, and maybe that bacterial component— and I don't want to— ruptures and leaks and things that do with silicone are different, but you can have shell breakdown or gel bleed without an overt rupture. And I think that's a more nuanced discussion.
