Breast Implant Safety: Traceability; the importance of registering your breast implants.

Over the last century, women worldwide have been undertaking breast augmentation procedures to enhance the size and shape of their breasts. Following their procedure, many women go on with their life, with little thought about the potential to have their devices removed, replaced, or their device type-checked. However, like most devices, breast implants are not lifetime devices, and at some point, may need replacing. This can be for several reasons,

to change the size or shape of their implants, to refresh the look of the augmentation or to update the implants to a safer newer option, or for health reasons. Whatever the reason, you will likely need to provide your doctor with your implant information and surgery history. Current methods are not always reliable. Therefore, the best option is to always register your breast implants; it ensures your breast implant information is not lost and gives you control over the security of your information. Read below to explore the current options and their issues.

Breast Implant ID card

After your breast augmentation, you will be issued a breast implant ID card; this is basically your breast implants birth certificate and holds valuable information about your implant devices and is one of the common options for identifying your implanted device. The issue with breast implant ID cards is they often get misplaced or lost as the months, years, and life goes on; and therefore isn’t always a reliable method of maintaining the safety of your breast implant information. While newer generation devices come with an RFID chip which allows for your implant information to be safely located inside of your breast implants and can be retrieved without the need for your ID card or surgical intervention, this type of digital documentation is only available with one breast implant brand and is not a feature in other brands. Therefore, unless you have the newer model of implant and or your ID card, this method of locating your implant information may not be an option.

Surgeon / Hospital Provider

By law, medical procedures should be accurately documented in medical notes and kept for at least ten years. This means, in some cases, you may be able to obtain your previous surgery and implant information from the hospital provider that performed your procedure. However, although patients have a right to access their medical information, it usually has to be requested in writing which can take some time. This is particularly an issue if you need your implant information urgently. Another issue is that, occasionally, not all medical information is fully documented, and therefore you may not retrieve all of the information you require. Finally, if you are one of the unfortunate individuals (particularly women with breast implants aged 10+years) who happened to use a plastic surgeon who has retired,

is no longer practicing, or had your procedure at a healthcare facility that no longer exists. Then you may not be able to access your device information at all. Therefore, the next step will be your manufacturer.

Manufacturer track and trace/ Breast implant Registry

Nowadays, all breast implants are assigned a unique serial number which allows medical providers and manufacturers to track and trace the breast implant information. Although track and trace and implant registry methods were introduced to help overcome the issues mentioned with the other traceability methods, it again has its flaws. Firstly implant registries are not globally available, and therefore, depending on where you are located, this may not be an option. Secondly, breast implant registries are not mandatory, and therefore this method relies heavily on your healthcare provider to opt to follow the registration process. Another issue is that breast implant registries have only recently been introduced; therefore, if you have had your implants for some years, then it is likely they were not registered following your surgery. In fact, it was recently published1 that thousands of implants were not registered, which left thousands of women relying on this method unable to obtain their information. Leaving the last option… Surgical intervention.

Surgical Intervention

Although some may argue that surgical intervention will be undertaken anyways at the time of replacement or removal, this method still isn’t ideal. Firstly, one vital part of breast augmentation surgery is pre-surgical planning, which allows your doctor to safely prepare for your surgery and the techniques and devices, which are right for you. Without your previous surgical and implant information, this means part of the planning cannot be achieved until your procedure when your device/devices are surgically removed. Another issue with this method is that if your devices have been in place for several years and are an older model, the implant information located on the device is usually no longer visible.

Finally, some women may require their breast implant information, not for reasons to replace or remove their implants but to check their implant type or brand. In these cases, this option would be unavailable as it would mean an unnecessary surgical intervention which may put the patient at harm.

Promoting Good Implant Traceability.

As discussed, the current methods of implant tracing are unreliable and, in some situations, heavily rely on the healthcare provider to ensure implant devices are registered. However, one way to ensure the security of your device and surgery information is by self-registering your implants. If you are considering breast implant surgery for augmentation or reconstructive purposes, this can be done immediately after your surgery. Alternatively, if you have already had your surgery,

you may still be able to register your implants by contacting your health care provider or your manufacturer by visiting your implant brand website page.

Resources

1. Thousands of UK breast implant patients missing off register | Breast implant scandal | The Guardian. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/09/thousands-of-uk-breast-implant-patients-missing-off-register

2. Lineaweaver W. Comments on: “The National Breast Implant Registry.” Annals of plastic surgery. 2021;86(3):250. doi:10.1097/SAP.0000000000002745

3. Swanson E. The Case Against the National Breast Implant Registry. Annals of Plastic Surgery. 2021;86(3):245. doi:10.1097/SAP.0000000000002743