Saline implants are filled with injecting salt water (saline) and injected from a syringe into tubing connected to the implant. After sealing the implant to the appropriate size, the tubing is disconnected and then removed from your body. Very important is to determine the correct implant size before surgery. Excellent way for the patient to correspond her desired size to her surgeon is to “try on” implants filled with various amounts of saline and detect the result with the implants under clothing.
Saline-filled breast implants were first manufactured in France in 1964 and introduced by Arion with the aim of being surgically placed by means of smaller incisions. These original devices had a high failure rate and were ceasing in the early 1970s. The current devices are produced with thicker, room temperature vulcanized (RTV) shells, which are made of silicone elastomer and after placing in the body they are filled with salt water. Whereas the implants are empty when they are surgically inserted, the scar is smaller than is necessary for silicone gel breast implants (which are filled with silicone before the surgery is performed). Until 1992, the most part of women getting breast implants used silicone gel implants rather than saline. After silicone gel implant prohibition by FDA in the United States, Canada, and several other countries in the early 1990s, saline implants became the most popular type in the U.S. In 2000 saline implants made by Inamed and Mentor were approved by the FDA. Saline implants made by other companies have not supplied the FDA with sufficient safety facts to get FDA approval, however are sold in other countries. Local complications for saline breast implants are the same as for silicone gel implants, and can be dangerous, devastating or comparatively slight. The most common complications are capsular contracture and the need for additional surgery to fix implant problems or to remove ruptured implants. Supplementary common complications include infection, chronic breast pain, and loss of nipple sensitivity. According to information provided by Inamed and Mentor to the FDA, most saline breast implant patients have at least one serious complication within the first 3 years. Cosmetic problems can bring about discontenting to patient but are not medically troublesome. Compared to silicone gel implants, saline implants are more inclined to cause cosmetic problems such as rippling, wrinkling, or being perceptible to the eye or the touch. Especially for women with very little breast tissue, or for post-mastectomy reconstruction, some plastic surgeons believe that silicone gel implants have a better cosmetic result. In patients with more breast tissue, however, saline implants look very similar to silicone gel. Additionally, case reports of bacteria and fungal infectivity have been described in medical literature. Advantages of saline implants include easier removal, no silicone leakage, and lower cost (several hundred dollars less per implant than silicone). Another advantage is that the size of the implant can often be slightly adjusted without replacing the implant. There are no long-term studies to determine if saline breast implants increase the risk of diseases such as cancer or autoimmune disease. However, breast implant manufacturers warn patients that women with autoimmune diseases were excluded from their safety studies of saline breast implants because of concerns about the risks.
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