Leakage of ruptured silicone breast implants through abdominal laparoscopic port sites: A rare complication following transabdominoplasty breast augmentation

• Published in: JPRAS open 2021-12, Vol.30, p.146-152
• Main Authors: Roberts, Jessica, Kearns, Marie, Ismail, Yasmin, Scott, John
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdominoplasty; Breast augmentation; Breast surgery complication; Case Report; Ruptured implant
• ISSN: 2352-5878; 2352-5878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpra.2021.08.003

Abdominoplasty and breast augmentation are two of the most commonly performed aesthetic procedures in the UK. When performed as a combined procedure, separate inframammary and abdominoplasty incisions are most frequently used. Transabdominoplasty breast augmentation, performed via a single abdominoplasty incision is also described. A 69-year-old female, having undergone a transabdominoplasty breast augmentation 20 years previously, was diagnosed with ascending colon cancer and admitted for a laparoscopic-assisted, right hemi-colectomy. Despite all the port sites being abdominal and below the inframammary fold, on their removal, silicone from ruptured breast implants was leaking through the port sites. The patient subsequently underwent an uneventful explantation of bilateral, ruptured, subglandular implants and recovered well. We recommend that breast implant explantation should be considered when patients indicated for elective intra-abdominal surgery are noted to have ruptured breast implants on staging CT imaging, especially when inserted via an abdominoplasty approach.