In this report, breast implants or breast devices are defined as both tissue expanders as well as permanent breast implants.

Clinical differences were found between patients who opted for a cosmetic breast augmentation and patients who received an implant for a reconstructive indication. Therefore, the results in this report are presented separately for these two groups.

• ♦ Part 1 - Reconstructive procedures, includes the indications:
  • ○ Reconstruction after mastectomy for cancer (surgery to recreate a breast after one or both breasts are removed as a treatment for breast cancer).
  • ○ Reconstruction after prophylactic mastectomy (surgery to recreate a breast after one or both breasts are removed to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer).
  • ○ Reconstruction benign (surgery to restore or create shape and symmetry in patients with loss or absence of all or some breast tissue due to benign breast conditions or gender reassignment surgery).
  • ○ Congenital deformity (surgery to restore or create shape and symmetry in patients with loss or absence of all or some breast tissue due to a congenital deformity, such as tuberous breasts).
• ♦ Part 2 - Aesthetic procedures, includes solely:
  • ○ Cosmetic augmentations (cosmetic surgery for breast enlargement).

Records for which the indication was not stated, were excluded from further analysis in this report (70 patients, 84 procedures, and 162 devices). In total, since the start of the registry in April 2015 until the end of 2018, information of approximately 30,000 patients, 31,000 procedures, and 62,000 breast implants has been registered in DBIR (Figure 4). This includes insertion only procedures, replacement surgeries, and explantation only procedures with both tissue expanders and permanent implants, of which the indication was known (aesthetic or reconstructive). Figure 4 also illustrates that patients with a reconstructive indication are more likely to undergo multiple operations when compared to patients with an aesthetic breast augmentation. Generally, the majority of aesthetic patients received breast implants bilaterally and reconstructive patients unilaterally.

Figure 4

Cumulative number of registered patients, procedures and devices (2015 – 2018). * A: Aesthetic, R: Reconstructive

In the two following chapters (i.e., reconstructive indications and aesthetic indications), results are presented for three types of interventions.

• ♦ Insertion only includes:
  • - Initial insertion of a new device.
  • - Insertion of a new device in a patient who has had previous implant surgery.
• ♦ Replacement surgery includes:
  • - Removal of an in situ device and insertion of the same or new device.
  • - Replacement of TE with an implant.
  • - Replacement of an in situ device with autologous tissue.
• ♦ Explantation only includes:
  • - Explantation of an in situ device without replacement of a new device or autologous tissue.

Contents

• PART 1. RECONSTRUCTIVE INDICATIONS
• PART 2. AESTHETIC INDICATIONS