The patient is a woman who had an uncomfortable contracture (hard spherical scar) on her left above muscle breast implant. One treatment option was to perform bilateral capsulectomy (scar tissue surrounding the implant removal) with implant replacement in the below muscle plane (which is associated with a far decreased contracture rate). The patient no longer wanted implants and favored removal. Capsulectomy is helpful to allow redraping of the stretched breast skin and tissue. Breast lift (mastopexy) and or fat grafting may be performed at the time of implant removal or later if indicated and desired. It is important to note that the breast may suffer aesthetically and this trade off must be accepted. The breast often improves with time, but when and how much is out of the surgeon’s control.
