Single PIP Rupture with demonstration on how quickly ruptures progress
Aurora is now part of The Private Clinic, a nationwide group of clinics with over 35 years of experience specialising in Cosmetic Surgery and Skin and a Trust Pilot 5 star rating. For comprehensive information, before and after photos and costs on Implant removal and replacement procedures click here
Our expert Plastic Surgeon Adrian Richards is the Medical Director for The Private Clinic. Clinics are located in Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Glasgow, London Harley Street, Leeds, Manchester and Northampton.
Our patient in this video had 230cc PIP implants inserted back in 1999. From a scan she knows one of them is definitely ruptured.
Mr Richards begins the video by inspecting the patients scar. He notices it isn’t entirely under the fold, which is the more common position of scars nowadays. The scar actually strarts around the side of the breast and then moves into the fold. Mr Richards informs us that this was a common area for the incisions to be made in the late 90’s, but not so much any more.
As the first implant is removed, we discover it is in tact, just showing the usual signs of deflation and gel bleed which are to be expected with PIP implants, if they aren’t ruptured. We think the patient can count herself to be one of the luckier ones, seeing as her implants had been inside her for around 13-14 years and the first to be removed was still in tact. We’ve seen more recent implants be in a catastrophic state of rupture.
Based on a scan prior to the surgery, we were aware one implant was ruptured, so after the first was in tact, it came as no surprise to see the second one was ruptured. As soon as the breast pocket was opened, we see the thick creamy fluid which is expected with PIP implants that have ruptured. The breast is cleaned out and the implant removed before the procedure is finished off.
After the procedure Mr Richards compares the two implants and they look very different. The ruptured one is much darker and a shade of yellow, which is something we have become very accustomed to seeing through our PIP rupture series. Mr Richards searches for the rupture on the implant and finds two very small ones as he squeezes it. He uses this opportunity to make the ruptures much bigger, by squeezing the implant making the silicone escape the implant. As he does this we see the shell split and more silicone seeps out the harder he squeezes. As he does this he talks about how the body would be doing this kind of stuff to the implant, applying pressure in different positions. Of course he is applying much more force than it would naturally inside our patient, but over the course of a month or so, the results could look very similar to straight after Mr Richards has given it thirty seconds of brute force. When the muscles constrict around the implant and tighten, it can make a rupture marginally worse, and if that happens 5 or 6 times a day when you are naturally moving, the rupture will continue to get bigger and bigger until you end up with a rupture that spans across the majority of the implant.
We advise here at Aurora that anyone with PIPs to get them removed. If this is something that concerns you then please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01844 318 491 or email mailto:info@aurora-clinics.local