How much do breast implants cost?
As a rule, no general statements can be made about the costs of breast implants, as these vary greatly depending on the manufacturer and size. Costs of between 400 and 800 euros per implant can be incurred.
What does the implantation of breast implants cost?
The cost of breast implantation depends on the type of operation, the clinic and its location, and the costs determined by the surgeon in charge. In total, the costs including the surgical procedure amount to approximately 4500-8000 Euros.
Own fat as breast implant
As an alternative to the implantation of foreign substances such as silicone implants, autologous fat can also be used for breast reconstruction. For this purpose, the patient’s own fat is first extracted from suctioned fatty tissue, enriched with stem cells via a special processing procedure and implanted into the breast. This method of breast augmentation is also known as cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL) and is controversially discussed with regard to safety. The aim of autologous fat grafting is to make the treatment result more permanent and to reduce the risk of death (necrosis) of larger parts of the implanted cells by means of stem cell enrichment.
Operation
Breast implants are usually inserted in an operation performed under general anaesthesia. This involves making an incision in the skin, lifting the breast tissue and forming an implant pocket in which the breast implant will later be placed. The breast implant can be placed either partially or completely under the pectoral muscle (submuscular implantation), which is mainly used in very thin women with little fatty or glandular tissue for a better hold.
Alternatively, the breast implant can also be placed under the mammary gland above the breast muscle (subglandular implantation). With this method, the breast tissue itself remains largely unaffected. A more difficult and time-consuming method is the so-called subfascial implantation, in which the breast implant is placed directly inside the muscle stocking and under the connective tissue shifting layer (fascia) covering the muscle.
Various options are also conceivable for the necessary skin incision. Since the skin incision should be as little visible as possible after the operation, it can be made in the newly formed underbust crease (inframammary access), around or through the areola (transareolar access) or in the armpit (transaxillary access). When using breast implants filled with saline solution, the skin incision can also be made in the navel.
There are the usual risks associated with the operation itself and general anaesthesia. The occurrence of capsular fibrosis, in which a capsule of scar tissue is formed in reaction to the foreign body, is the most common complication after the implantation of silicone implants. This capsule can lead to hardening of the breast, to deformation and in extreme cases to permanent pain. In addition, under certain circumstances asymmetrical breasts can occur if the operation does not proceed optimally. In some cases, the breast implants may slip, which may make a follow-up operation necessary for aesthetic reasons.
