A team of plastic surgeons in South Korea have completed a study suggesting that the results of transaxillary breast augmentation can be improved by the use of shaped cohesive gel implants.
Noting that transaxillary breast augmentation was once associated with complications and unpredictable outcomes, authors Hyung-Bo Sim, M.D., and Sang-Hoon Sun, M.D., acknowledge that the technique, which includes electrocautery dissection with direct endoscopic visualization, can yield excellent aesthetic outcomes with a concealed scar. However, they believe that the technique could be improved by combining shaped implant devices with transaxillary augmentation.
To demonstrate technique validity, Drs. Sim and Sun undertook a prospective study in which they evaluated 116 Asian women who underwent transaxillary endoscopic breast augmentation with electrocautery. The doctors sought to improve the results by placing shaped gel implants in patients with an indistinct or absent inframammary fold (IMF) who wished to avoid a breast scar. A partial retropectoral plane pocket was created in four sequential dissection steps, with direct endoscopic visualization and careful control of bleeding. Shaped cohesive gel implants were placed to produce smooth, natural-appearing breast mounds and well-defined IMFs.
Patients were monitored for six to 24 months after surgery. The authors noted no instances of pneumothorax, instrument-related skin burns or severe implant deformation due to rotation or displacement. Three of the 116 patients experienced Baker 3 unilateral capsular contracture. One patient developed a unilateral hematoma three weeks after surgery.
“Endoscopic breast surgery is associated with shortened recovery times, a reduced need for drainage, and excellent outcomes, including a well-defined and symmetric IMF,” the authors write. “This approach, combined with shaped gel implants, can yield natural-appearing results of transaxillary breast augmentation.”
Full text of the study is available in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
