Dr. Patronella Cuts Open a Gummy Bear Implant and Discusses Silicone Implant Rupture

Posted November 07, 2023 in Breast Augmentation, Breast Implant Replacement, Uncategorized

By Dr. Chris Patronella

I have a scalpel and a cohesive gel implant, which is also known as the “gummy bear implant,” and I want to demonstrate how well the gel stays together if there is a rupture of the implant. [Dr. Patronella proceeds to cut the silicone implant open with a scalpel and squeezes it to demonstrate the cohesivity of the silicone gel.]

You can see that the gel really is very cohesive. I’m squeezing very tightly and trying to push this gel out of the implant, and it stays together. Why is that important? It’s much, much easier with cohesive gel implants to remove should it rupture.

In the surgical setting, when there’s a ruptured implant, it stays together and is removed in its entirety with much more ease than the traditional implants that were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. The latter contained more of a liquified gel, and it was much messier. The current silicone gel implant is much cleaner.

The rupture rate of these implants is less than 1% (looked at for eight years). So it’s very uncommon, but we do see some occasionally. I see a few patients a year who have ruptured implants. They’re very reliable—I’m a strong advocate for the cohesive gel implant. It’s an incredibly good implant.