UK plastic surgeons have renewed calls for the removal of all PIP implants as a preventative measure.
In Sweden, new recommendations from the National Board of Health and Welfare suggest all PIP implants should be removed, following an analysis of explanted products rather than off-the-shelf ones. They say: “The examination of a number of removed PIP implants with large ruptures shows that the silicone gel within the coating has changed its character”.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons is calling for a similar analysis to take place in the UK.
BAAPS president Rajiv Grover commented: “We have long been warning that a major loophole in safety regarding these defective implants relates to the lack of ‘in vivo’ testing of PIPs – that is, analysis performed on those that have been removed from the human body. The Swedish findings, which have been undertaken in this manner, show that when inside the body the silicone alters in such a way that doesn’t ‘stick together’ as well, allowing it to disperse more easily.
“It is known that there is a subgroup of PIP implants in which the concentration of an irritant compound – known as D4 – is higher than in others, but there is no way of knowing which ones are affected. This is why the Swedish government has made the decision to remove all PIPs as a preventative measure.”
BAAPS has repeatedly warned that there remain unanswered questions about the devices.
Grover concluded: “The combination of higher concentrations of D4 and the changes in the silicone which happen when the implant is within the body, finally explain the issues that surgeons and patients have been seeing and experiencing around the country. We urge the government, who we know have collected in vivo specimens, to perform similar analyses – as a matter of urgency.
