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Surgical Treatment of Capsular Contracture (CC): Literature Review and Outcomes Utilizing Implants in Revisionary Surgery

  • Review
  • Breast Surgery
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Abstract

Background

The objective of this clinical review is to provide an overview of the use of breast implants after capsular contracture (CC) surgical treatment, with a focus on type of implants used. Furthermore, our experience in this field is also reviewed.

Methods

MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, the Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar databases were reviewed to identify literature related to surgical treatment of capsular contracture and implant replacement. Each article was reviewed by two independent reviewers to ensure all relevant publications were identified. The literature search identified 54 applicable articles. Of these, 26 were found to have a therapeutic level of evidence. The reference lists in each relevant paper were screened manually to include relevant papers not found through the initial search.

Results

Only four articles report the replacement of implants after surgical treatment of capsular contracture. Six articles reported an implant exchange with only smooth silicone gel filled implants. Two reviews advice to use smooth implants in implant replacement.

Conclusion

With our expertise in the field and the results of this up-to-date literature review, it can be concluded that implant exchange is recommended in case of breast revision for capsular contracture, and the use of subpectoral smooth silicone gel breast implants is a good option after surgical treatment in patients with primary or recurrence Baker III–IV.

Level of Evidence III

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Academic Hospital of Udine, Department of Medical Area (DAME), University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Nicola Zingaretti & Pier Camillo Parodi

  2. Accademia del Lipofilling, Research and Training Center in Regenerative Surgery, Montelabbate, Italy

    Nicola Zingaretti, Francesco De Francesco, Michele Riccio & Pier Camillo Parodi

  3. Clinic of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Presidio Ospedaliero Villa Letizia, L’Aquila, Italy

    Paolo Vittorini & Valentina Savino

  4. School of Medicine, Campus Biomedico University, Rome, Italy

    Jacopo Claudio Vittorini

  5. Department of Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, AOU “Ospedali Riuniti”, Ancona, Italy

    Francesco De Francesco & Michele Riccio

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  1. Nicola Zingaretti
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  2. Paolo Vittorini
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  4. Jacopo Claudio Vittorini
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  5. Francesco De Francesco
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Correspondence to Nicola Zingaretti.

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Zingaretti, N., Vittorini, P., Savino, V. et al. Surgical Treatment of Capsular Contracture (CC): Literature Review and Outcomes Utilizing Implants in Revisionary Surgery. Aesth Plast Surg 45, 2036–2047 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-021-02148-z

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