Is abscess formation common after revision breast augmentation surgery with silicone breast implants, what are the consequences, and what is the treatment?

Any surgery, in any discipline carries a risk of infection. The risk is calculated based on the degree of contamination for a particular operation. Breast augmentation is considered a “clean” surgery, and carries an overall infection rate of less than two percent. If infection should take place, it will most often affect one or more of three patterns, assuming there is no disseminated spread, and the infection remains localized. Infection can occur in the skin, in the soft tissue surrounding the implant, and in the form of a pus pocket. Skin infection will usually respond to oral antibiotics. Soft tissue infections surrounding the breast implant may respond to oral antibiotics, will sometimes require intravenous antibiotics, and in other cases need to be treated with implant removal. If the infection should progress to, or start out as an abscess (pus-pocket), the only treatment that will be effective in treating the infection and preventing more serious systemic complications is drainage of pus and breast implant removal. Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) may result from the presence of a foreign body (breast implant in this case) in the setting of an infection, and is a truly life-threatening condition that needs to be addressed immediately. It is marked by high fever, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, light-headedness and possibly loss of consciousness, and a diffuse rash. The treatment is timely institution of IV antibiotics, and breast implant removal. If the breast implant is removed, the infection should be treated, the inflammation allowed to resolve, and a new implant placed weeks down the road.