E(A)SAPS statement on Breast Implant Illness

Breast Implant Illness (BII) is a patient-reported condition with multiple symptoms such as general fatigue, hair loss, modified body odor, general bodily pain, depression, painful breasts, pruritus of breasts, redness of breasts, irritable bowel syndrome, endocrinological conditions, hypothyroid or hyperthyroid symptoms, cardiac palpations and autoimmune diseases including rheumatological-, SLE, myalgias, arthralgias and Raynaud´s disease… More than 100 different symptoms are patient-reported and intensively discussed in Facebook groups and other social media forum. The medical society has intensively worked over the last 60 years to understand the mechanisms of aforementioned patients ‘concerns and adverse events related to breast implants.

E(A)SAPS recommends to seriously listen to patients with concerns of BII and provide objective evidence-based knowledge. There is currently no diagnostic testing available for BII. Data in the literature do not support the hypothesis that breast implants cause autoimmune disorders. There is to date no evidence that explantation of breast implants guarantees a long-term symptom-free life. Prospective studies with conclusions from a huge compound of data from breast implant registries will answer questions about long-term results after explant-surgery. Self-reports tend to show significant increases in health risks, whereas studies that rely on Scientific data and diagnoses in medical records and hospitalization are less likely to show significant increased risks

E(A)SAPS respects and supports the desire of women to explant breast implants after due information. It should be the choice of the well-informed patient to undergo augmentation with implants for aesthetic indications or for breast reconstruction. It should likewise be the right of the well-informed patient to remove her implants and needs to be a well-thought-out process.

E(A)SAPS does not support the idea that “en-bloc” removal of the capsule/implant complex is mandatory when explantation is undertaken for reasons of BII. On the contrary, en-bloc removal is imperative if the diagnosis of BIA-ALCL has been confirmed. Patients should be informed about the additional risks of total capsular removal with specific respect to pneumothorax, increased risk of bleeding, hematoma, etc

E(A)SAPS recommends providing patients with an extensive information on secondary potential operations after explantation of breast implants as aesthetics and condition of the breasts might be irreversibly affected.