Clinical Outcomes in Women with Breast Implant Illness After Removal Surgery: Experience from a Latin American Center.

Background: To investigate the impact of removal surgery in women with breast implant illness (BII) on the improvement of symptoms, as well as on the current quality of life of women.

Methods: This is an observational study of a cohort of women undergoing definitive implant removal for BII-related symptomatology between 2016 and 2022 in Cali, Colombia. All data were collected from medical records and through a telephone survey. The severity of 10 clinical manifestations before and after removal surgery was evaluated with a five-point Likert scale. Quality of life was assessed with the BREAST-Q scale.

Results: A total of 125 women who underwent breast removal surgery were included; mean age was 48.8 ±9.7 years. The three most frequent reported symptoms at baseline were sore/aching joint (48.0%), fatigue (32.0%), and hair loss (25.6%). At a median follow-up of 18 months after implant removal, significant improvement was observed in all symptoms (p value<0.05) with a mean reduction in the percentage of women with symptomatology of 55.8% ±6.4%. At least half of the women reported a BREAST-Q of 100 points on the dimensions of satisfaction with breasts, physical well-being, and satisfaction with surgical outcome.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence in favor of breast removal surgery as a treatment option in women with BII symptomatology. Highlights Nowadays, the evidence on breast implant illness is not conclusive. However, due to media interest and growing concern among patients and decision-makers, it is necessary to increase knowledge about BII, especially in low- and middle-income countries where evidence is poor. Consistent with the results of other studies, implant removal surgery significantly reduced the severity of symptoms at a median follow-up of 18 months after explantation in 125 women included in this study. Women after explantation reported a good quality of life and satisfaction with their breast appearance, physical well-being and surgical outcome with the BREAST-Q score.

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