While all surgical procedures carry some risk, breast augmentation is a very safe surgery. There are both short term and long-term risks for breast augmentation surgery in Beverly Hills. Short-term risks include anesthetic problems, infection and bleeding. Patients with good general health and no family history of anesthetic problems, the risks of any adverse outcomes of general anesthesia are minimal. The risk of infection from breast augmentation surgery is usually less than 1%. Our practice is to give antibiotics both before and after surgery for 5-7 days. Rarely a patient may require prolonged antibiotic therapy if an infection does develop. Lastly, risks of bleeding (hematoma) are about 2-3%. If this does occur, it is usually apparent within the first 6 to 12 hours after surgery. Patients most commonly complain of swelling and pain on the affected side. If there is significant bleeding, you may need to return to the operating room to have the blood evacuated.

Long-term risks include but are not limited to capsular contracture, bottoming out, rippling, and implant deflation. Capsular contracture or encapsulation occurs from 7-9% in a primary breast augmentation. When this occurs, patients typically have an implant that does not settle into a natural position or the breast becomes hard and sometimes painful. This is due to scar tissue formation around the implant. If this occurs, an additional procedure will be required to remove the scar tissue. Bottoming out or displacement of implants may occur over time if an implant is very heavy or if the implant pocket becomes stretched out. If this occurs an additional procedure will be required to re-tighten the implant pocket and reposition the implant. You can see some examples of this here.

Risks of breast augmentation are minimized when you have a Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon perform your procedure.