Secondary augmentation mammaplasties and periprosthetic infection: a three-year retrospective review.

BACKGROUND Secondary or revision surgery following primary augmentation mammaplasty is common. There are several published studies on the incidence and prevention of infection after primary augmentation mammaplasty, but there is a paucity of information on the incidence of periprosthetic infection after secondary or revision augmentation mammaplasty procedures. OBJECTIVES The author evaluates the incidence of periprosthetic infection in a series of revision and secondary mammaplasty patients from his practice. METHODS A retrospective review was performed of the charts for 92 consecutive patients who underwent bilateral secondary mammaplasty with the author between July 2008 and April 2011. Each breast was taken as a single unit, for a total of 184 breasts. The data were compiled and compared with previous studies related to periprosthetic infection following primary augmentation mammaplasty. RESULTS The average age of the patients was 35.8±7.9 years (range, 19-54 years). One patient developed unilateral periprosthetic infection in her left breast. This incidence of 0.54% was comparable to infection incidence of 0.5% for primary augmentation mammaplasty previously reported by the author. CONCLUSIONS In this series, there was no higher incidence of infection seen in secondary augmentation mammaplasty than was seen in previous studies on primary mammaplasty. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4.