A recent report by the FDA gives generally good marks to silicone breast implants, currently the most popular variety of implant. About 60% of breast implants last year were the gel-like silicone type versus 40% for the salt-water-filled saline type. The latest generation of silicone implants are a big improvement over the ones pulled off the market in 1992 by the FDA. The newer models, which returned to the market five years ago, contain silicone that acts like jelly, rather than the runny, oily fluid that led to problems when such implants burst in the past. Should the newer type of silicone implant rupture, the inert gel stays put. Nonetheless, says cosmetic surgeons, there is still about a 20% chance that a patient will have to have their implants removed within a decade due to complications, and almost half of patients may need some sort of additional surgery during their lifetime to deal with complications. Breast implants remain the most popular form of invasive cosmetic surgery, with 400,000 women annually undergoing the procedure.
