A patient wants to remove her existing breast implants and replace them with autologous fat and stem cells:
For a long time I am thinking about removal of my silicone implants. Should I explant and plan the further augmentation procedure in your clinic, for example, half a year later? Or explant and directly augment the breast with fat stem cells? Are there any disadvantages arising from combining both procedures in one surgery appointment?
In Japan often both steps are performed during a single surgery appointment. However, in Austria this is rarely done. The combination of both procedures could be especially adverse if there are any complications occurring during the implant removal, such as bleedings, which cannot be foreseen. In addition implant removal is performed under general anesthesia, which is not recommendable when doing a liposuction for reasons of patient safety.
Mostly it is advisable to remove the implant first and do the breast augmentation with stem cells/autologous fat in a further procedure under local anesthesia some time later. The autologous fat required for a breast augmentation is harvested by means of liposuction with microcannulas and implanted into the breast either with or without stem cell enrichment immediately afterwards.
DDr. Heinrich, MD