Capsular contracture

The most frequent complication occurring after breast surgery with breast implants is capsular contracture. The organism considers every implant (independently from its content) as a foreign body and creates a capsule of connective tissue around it. Usually, this capsule is too thin to be felt.

With some patients, this capsule contracts and the breast will feel tight or even hard. This contracture – which may also happen years after surgery – can be painful to the patient, is aesthetically inacceptable and has to be corrected surgically in most cases. In this surgery, the “scarred” capsule is removed and a new implant inserted.