SAN ANGELO, Texas — In his consultation room, San Angelo plastic surgeon, Dr. Don Lewis said the difference between a smooth and textured breast implant. Lewis said most women who have textured implants are not for cosmetic reasons.
“Thinner at the top or fuller at the bottom we intend for it to stay that way and those are the kind of implants we use for breast reconstruction,” Lewis said.
Allergan recalled their textured implants due to the rough surface behaving differently in the body and the possible link to large-cell lymphoma BIA-ALCL.
“The cases that we have seen have been fatal 33 deaths we don’t know how to predict who will have it,” Lewis said.
However, the FDA is not recommending women who already have the implant to rush to have them removed unless they are having symptoms.
“If you had a textured implant recently with swelling tightest soreness or other changes it’s a good idea to talk to your surgeon about that,” Lewis said.
Lewis said patients shouldn't panic, but they should contact their surgeon if they are worried about their implants. Lewis said if a patient is asymptomatic it is safer to do nothing than to have an operation to remove it.
“I think not to be too anxious the FDA has not made any recommendation that other implants be removed from the market or that other markers of textured implants remove their implants,” Lewis said.