Breast Implant Types

An FDA moratorium on silicone breast implants instituted in 1992 caused saline implants to be used almost exclusively for breast enlargement procedures in the United States for many years. However, in November 2006 the FDA once again allowed silicone breast implants for general use. Cohesive silicone gel implants have not yet been approved for general use by the FDA, but clinical trials are currently being conducted to determine their safety and effectiveness. Learn more about saline breast implants, silicone breast implants, and cohesive silicone gel breast implants and the benefits and downsides of each type.

Indications

Breast implants are used primarily for:

• primary reconstruction (to replace breast tissue that has been removed due to cancer or trauma or that has failed to develop properly due to a severe breast abnormality such as the tuberous breast deformity)
• revision-reconstruction (revision surgery to correct or improve the result of an original breast reconstruction surgery)
• primary augmentation (to increase breast size for cosmetic reasons)
• revision-augmentation (revision surgery to correct or improve the result of an original breast augmentation surgery)

The items listed are not written in order of the number of procedures performed.