Breast implant surgery and antibiotics
Are antibiotics important in breast augmenation/ breast implant surgery?
Here is a recent question answered by Sydney Plastic Surgeon, Dr Damian Marucci, on the breast.com.au forum:
I have researched all aspects if surgery. Though my question relates to post operative care. Some patients have mentioned anti-biotics. I’m aware antibiotics are to fight a viral infection, so I can not understand to what benefit these antibiotics would be post operatively. Could you please explain? what are these antibiotics?
Dr Marucci’s reply was:
Thanks for your question Every surgeon has a slightly different approach to antibiotics. The idea of giving antibiotics around the time of breast augmentation surgery is to decrease the chance of the implant becoming infected with a bug. These antibiotics are aimed mainly against common skin bugs (like staph), not viruses.
I give my patients a dose of intravenous antibiotics (a cephalosporin) through the drip as the operation is beginning, so that the antibiotic is in the bloodstream when the surgery commences. I then send all my patients home with tablet antibiotics for a few days.
I wash the implant in an antiseptic solution (betadine) before I put it into the breast and also wash out the “pocket” in the breast with betadine. In addition to this. some plastic surgeons wash the breast implant with an antibiotic.
Fortunately, breast implant infection is relatively uncommon, however, if a breast implant gets infected it may need to be removed – so we are very keen to do everything we can to prevent infection.
Recent studies have shown that even very low grade infections of a breast implant can lead to capsular contracture (where the capsule the body forms around the implant can distort the shape of the breast).
Dr Marucci specialises in plastic, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the breast. Dr Marucci treats patients from all over Sydney. His consulting rooms are in Kogarah and Caringbah, in the heart of Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Please call to schedule an appointment with Dr Marucci if you are interested in any further information regarding breast augmentation, breast reduction, breast reconstruction or breast implant surgery.
