Posted on

Breast implant types and abbreviations

Our newest team-member, Hannah, wrote some notes after a discussion about breast implant types, different manufacturers and abbreviations regarding the different breast implants.

Here are her excellent notes:

 

Today Karla hosted a meeting where she encouraged us to ask any questions so we could have an open discussion. We ended up spending the majority of the time talking about the different types of implants and their abbreviations.

Here are the Breast Implant notes that I took:

In 2006 Mentor and Allergan both came out with a gel implant. This implant was commonly referred to as the “gummy bear” implant. Before these implants got approved, only patients who were participating in a study could get gel implants, and only saline implants were readily available. These same gel implants are still widely used today. Even if this implant is cut open, the gel will stay together, which is why they are referred to as cohesive silicone gel implants. Textured teardrop shaped implants were released that were highly cohesive and offered by both Natrelle and Mentor. Allergan called their version of the highly cohesive anatomically shaped implants “Style 410.” Highly Cohesive Silicone Gel Matrix holds its shape whether you are standing or sitting. Many patients referred to the highly cohesive implants as “gummy bear implants” as well. These will hold shape while standing, but because they are anatomically shaped, they will have less fullness at the top and the implant pocket must be very tight to minimize risk of rotation. Specifically the Allergan Style 410 have been linked to late forming seroma.

Allergan Inspira Responsive

  • Low Profile- SRL
  • Low Plus Profile-SRLP
  • Moderate Profile- SRM
  • Full Profile- SRF
  • Extra Full Profile- SRX

Allergan Inspira Cohesive

  • Low Profile- SCL
  • Low Plus Profile- SCLP
  • Moderate Profile- SCM
  • Full Profile- SCF
  • Extra Full Profile- SCX

Mentor Breast Implants

  • Moderate Classic- MC
  • Moderate Plus Profile- M+ or MPP
    High Profile- HP
  • Ultra High Profile- UHP

Silicone Gel Implant History

Silicone gel implants were available way back in 1960s, and they are pretty much the same gel as the ones that were approved in November 2006.

They’d been used for decades and were taken off the market because of lack of safety profile studies. When the studies showed that the silicone gel implants were safe, they were brought back on the market in Nov 2006.

Takeaway from Breast Implant Types Meeting

The biggest takeaway from this meeting is that there is so much information about these implants online. The patients often have a hard time keeping the information straight, so the guidance from a very experienced plastic surgeon is invaluable. This is why the consultation is such an important aspect of the surgical process for patients. Many times, patients think that they can get the same look as their friend, but their body affects the final outcome just as much as the implants do.

Thank you Karla for this very educational lunch meeting!

 

 

Above are notes from Hannah, our newest team-member to Surgical Artistry. We specialize in Breast Augmentation in Modesto.

Posted on

What is Plastic Surgery? Why the word Plastic?

I frequently get asked about why plastic surgery has the word “plastic” in it. Dr. Wu had written an article about the noble medical profession of Plastic Surgery. I think it was earmarked for Contentment Health Magazine – which it never got published to my knowledge, but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. So here’s my definition.

I love this quote about plastic surgery written by Gaspare Tagliacozzi in 1597:
“We restore, repair, and make whole those parts…which fortune has taken away, not so much that they may delight the eye, but that they may buoy up the spirit and help the mind of the afflicted.”

I work at Surgical Artistry because it is my passion to lift up the spirit, confidence, and health of my patients. And I like to do it one person at a time. Patients come to me with a spark of motivation to use Botox to erase a wrinkle (or Botox for a painful muscle trigger / migraine), then the interest evolves into skin health and then ultimately total body health which includes a whole food plant based diet.

The term plastic means to mold, and is from the Greek word “plastikos”. It was first used to describe a specialty of surgery in 1837 – this was over 75 years before the invention of plastic bottles. Thus Plastic Surgery came before the material called “plastic.” I can see how the public gets confused and think that plastic surgery is all about putting in plastic materials into patients. But it’s not that simple. Both Plastic Surgery and Plastic Bottles got the word “plastic” for the meaning “to be mold-able.”

Today plastic surgery encompasses cosmetic surgery, reconstructive surgery after cancer surgeries and traumatic accidents, HAND surgery, microsurgery, BURN intensive care, craniofacial surgery to fix birth defects like cleft lips, and branches of transplant surgery.

And I love this picture of my wife and I working together. This is what we do everyday at Surgical Artistry.

Posted on

Steroids and Keloids

How do steroids shrink keloids?  Including keloids from surgeries such as breast augmentation.

The science behind the treatment is that keloids are an abnormal form of healing. This healing process has a prolonged INFLAMMATORY phase, which is the main cause of the keloid formation.

What steroids do, is that they DECREASE inflammation, thereby shrinking keloids – works every time! J

I hope I answered your question adequately. If you want to know more, please let me know!

Posted on

any specific limitations for patients who want multiple surgeries performed at once

This is a really good question, so I am going to share my response to this question with the rest of the office.

Are there any specific limitations for patients who want multiple surgeries performed at once including Breast Augmentation? I know one is if the patient has ever had gastric bypass, due to the fact that the minimal amount of nutrients consumed adds a certain caveat to healing.

 

The main limitations to having multiple surgeries at once are:

 

  1. Patient’s health – can they withstand the stress of having multiple surgeries at once?
  2. Length/Duration of surgery when multiple surgeries are combined – I generally try not to do surgeries under general anesthesia that last more than 6 hours – having said that, I have done some surgeries that are about 7 hours or  more, but it is not my preference to do such long surgeries because the longer the surgery duration, the more potential perioperative complications such as infection, wound healing issues, etc. can happen.
  3. Surgeries requiring different types of anesthesia– I usually do not combine surgeries that usually are done with different types of anesthesia, ie, general vs. local or local with IV sedation. There are some physiologic differences for these different types of anesthesia; and some surgeries are better done under one vs. another.
  4. Gastric bypass status – you mentioned this issue. And indeed this is one of the factors that I take into consideration. Reason: Gastric bypass patients are immunocompromised and they have a surgically altered gut system that purposefully creates malnutrition for them. Therefore, they generally do not heal as well. The malnutrition is not because they eat very little; whatever they eat, the nutrients generally don’t get absorbed, because they get a big portion of their gut cut out and the portion of the gut that gets cut out is the main area for nutrient absorption. And that’s how they lose weight; it’s not because of the amount they eat; its’ the decrease in absorption surface area. Because of that, most of them are not as healthy as someone who’s never had such a surgery. And gastric bypass truly should be reserved for treating medical conditions that are resistant and nonresponsive to non-operative treatments.

 

I hope that answers your question. If anyone has any questions about above, please let me know. J