A Rare Complication Following Breast Implant Surgery: Capsular Contracture with a Cutaneous Silicone Fistula after Breast Reconstruction with Silicone Gel Implants

Abstract

Background: We report the case of a 74-year-old female patient who presented at the Breast Care Centre with watery discharge from a fistula in the inframammary fold of the left breast. Case Report: The patient initially presented with watery discharge coming from the fistula, which later took on a more viscous consistency. She reported mild discomfort as well as mild erythema. Clinical examination and diagnostic approaches including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a cutaneous silicone fistula as a rare complication following breast implant reconstruction. The condition was treated with excision of the fistula and bilateral implant removal. Conclusions: This case report documents a rare complication following breast reconstruction with implants, and is to our knowledge the first described MRI-detected cutaneous silicone fistula.

Palmieri’s double suture skin repair: a new double suture approach to cases of skin cancer and ulcerative lesions

“…Breast implant reconstruction is a common and safe procedure after bilateral subcutaneous mastectomy or cosmetic treatments, but complications, like pressure ulcers or fistula formation, are reported in some cases [ 1 , 2 ]. Usually, at the beginning of the process, the fluid oozing from the skin wound is not contaminated, but, suddenly, bacterial or fungal colonisation begins [ 3 , 4 ], and removal of the prosthesis is mandatory in some cases [ 5 ].…”