The Plastic Surgery Channel

The “How-To” Guide for the New Form Stable Implants

Caroline Glicksman, MD

What surgeons need to know before operating with the new form stable cohesive gel implant…

Plastic surgeons are optimistic about the new Allergan 410 implant recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Now that these implants are widely available, surgeons want to know just how different they really are.

 



 

Carolynn Grimes
ThePlasticSurgeryChannel.com

 

 The Form Stable Implant – Not the Perfect Fit for Everyone

 

 

To clear up any potential problems surgeons may come across with the Allergan 410, we interviewed some of the top plastic surgeons across the country. These surgeons have already performed hundreds of breast surgeries using form stable implants.

Dr. William P. Adams Jr.,a board certified plastic surgeon from Dallas, Texas says, “It’s a different device that requires a type of patient and a different surgical procedure.”   “If you’re not willing to look at this as a brand new device and technique and you bring in some old techniques from using round silicone implants, it can really create some problems,” says Dr. Brad Bengston from Cedar Rapids, Michigan.

“I think the jump for most surgeons will be, I have a patient with a problem, I can fix it with this new device, says Dr. Caroline Glicksman, a board certified plastic surgeon from New Jersey. “The problem is you’re adding in a new dimension with a shaped implant, and that may increase your complications. You have to be careful in picking the right candidate.”

Who is the ideal candidate for the form stable implants?

In the Operating Room

Once the ideal candidate is established there’s a whole new set of surgical differences.  We followed Dr. Adams into surgery to see the different techniques first hand. “What’s really important is number one, we’re going to have to have a little bit longer incision size. However, the most important thing is to dissect the breast pocket very precisely, with no blunt dissection. It will be like a lock and key fit for the implant.”

Dr. Pat McGuire, a board certified plastic surgeon from St. Louis, Missouri explains the importance of a precise dissection.  “You can’t make a big pocket and put a small shaped implant in it because it will rotate. You have to have a bloodless dissection because you want to see the muscle and see the attachments; making sure it’s dry and clean when you’re done.”

The Differences Don’t End After Surgery

“We don’t do the post-operative massage on these implants. The displacement exercises which were commonly done with smooth gel implants aren’t needed. We don’t want to expand the pocket because it could increase the risk of rotation,” says McGuire.

Despite all the technical differences that come into play with these new implants, surgeons agree, the big advantage of the form stable will be offering more options to patients.