Capsular fibrosis in aesthetic and reconstructive-cancer patients: A retrospective analysis of 319 cases.

Background: Implant-based breast augmentation is one of the most frequently performed operations in plastic surgery worldwide, for aesthetic and reconstructive reasons. Capsular fibrosis is the most common long-term foreign body response after breast implant augmentation.

Objective: To compare the occurrence of capsular contracture in aesthetic and reconstructive-cancer patients, including those patients who received radiotherapy prior to breast reconstruction with implants.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of 319 patients who underwent breast implant revision between Jan 2000 and Oct 2016. The patient group was comprised of 175 reconstructive-cancer patients and 144 patients who underwent operation for aesthetic reasons. The occurrence of capsular fibrosis, other complications and the time-period between implantation of breast implants and revision surgery (TP) was analyzed.

Results: For all 319 patients the mean TP was 7.9 years (7.86±0.45). The most common complication in all revisions was capsular fibrosis (65.1% of all revisions). In aesthetic patients with capsular fibrosis the mean TP was 11.9 years (11.89±0.95, p < 0.001). This mean TP was significantly higher than the mean TP of 6.1 years (6.13±0.56, p < 0.001) in breast cancer patients with capsular fibrosis. Preoperatively irradiated cancer patients had a mean TP of 6.2 years (6.17±0.95), compared to a mean TP of 5.1 years (5.07±0.19, p = 0.051) in non-irradiated cancer patients, which was not significantly different.

Conclusions: We found that aesthetic patients exhibit a significantly higher mean TP compared to breast cancer patients, suggesting that reconstructive-cancer patients in general develop capsular fibrosis earlier. Despite the literature, we did not find a significant influence of preoperative radiotherapy on the occurrence of capsular fibrosis in reconstructive-cancer patients. Further clinical studies need to be conducted to identify methods to decrease the risk of developing capsular fibrosis.