Breast Implant Removal

Dr. Bitar takes pain management very seriously and ensures that you are comfortable at every stage of the treatment process. The surgery itself is performed under general anesthesia, allowing you to sleep soundly while all work is completed. After the procedure, it is common to experience soreness and tenderness in the chest region. The doctor will prescribe oral pain medications to offset any postoperative discomfort.

Your breast implant removal procedure in Fairfax, Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas typically takes place over a series of visits, including a consultation, surgery, and follow-up sessions. Your postoperative visits are crucial, as they enable the doctor to remove your drains and sutures, assess your healing process, and address any concerns that may have arisen promptly.

It is common to notice immediate changes in your chest appearance once your implants have been removed. However, like most breast surgeries, you will have to contend with swelling and bruising for several weeks, which may temporarily obscure your final results.

Yes. Dr. Bitar commonly pairs implant removal with a breast lift or fat grafting to create highly natural and balanced final results. If you are interested in undergoing other cosmetic procedures at the same time as breast implant removal in the Washington, D.C. area, speak with the doctor during your private consultation.

At the Bitar Cosmetic Surgery Institute, we take pride in ensuring that we provide the best possible surgical experience. This process includes pre-operative preparation, the actual surgery, and post-operative care.

• General Complications
  General complications can occur with any surgery. Cosmetic surgery is typically a safe procedure performed on healthy patients and, like all surgeries, comes with a low risk. To further lower the risk of complications, we operate at a first-class surgery center with board-certified anesthesiologists and nurses. To avoid postoperative complications, we advocate for early mobilization – patients seen in our office one or two days after surgery – and active participation in their own postoperative care. When we create a partnership, the results invariably improve.

• Bleeding
  Bleeding after breast implant removal is minimal. Sometimes, a small amount of bleeding can be observed, but if the bleeding in a breast after a breast implant removal becomes significant, then the patient needs to have the bleeding removed in the operating room in a straightforward procedure. Before surgery, our patients are tested to make sure they don’t have any common bleeding disorders by their own physicians and by lab tests. We use a tumescent solution, similar to the one used in liposuction, before starting the procedure to minimize bleeding.

• Infection
  The most important step in avoiding infections is to undergo surgery at a first-rate surgical facility with board-certified anesthesiologists and nurses. Patients are given the appropriate intravenous antibiotic coverage throughout the actual surgery and afterward. During the surgery, the patient’s skin surface is cleaned thoroughly. If implants are replaced, the doctor changes gloves, and he is the only one who handles the implant in the operating room to ensure total sterility and avoidance of infection. After the procedure, our patients are prescribed antibiotics to minimize infection. As a result of these extra precautions, our infection rate is minimal.

• Ability to Breastfeed
  Women are sometimes concerned that if they have breast surgery, they will not be able to breastfeed afterward. The likelihood of losing the ability to breastfeed is rare. During implant removal and replacement, if desired, minimal dissection is performed into the breast gland, ensuring that the milk ducts are not disrupted. The inability to breastfeed after a breast implant removal that we have performed has not occurred with any of our patients to our knowledge.

• Loss of Nipple Sensation or Nipple/Areolar Skin
  Similar to what has been said about the ability to breastfeed, loss of nipple sensation is a potential complication because of the minimal amount of additional dissection, and the chance of injuring the nerves to the nipple is rare. Temporary loss of sensation from a “stunned” nerve or a bruised nerve may occur in the time period after surgery, but sensation in the vast majority of cases returns within a few weeks.

• Smoking
  Smoking is an absolute contraindication for breast implant removal with or without exchange. The carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarette smoke cause a severe reduction in blood supply to the skin and breast tissue during healing. This results in delayed wound healing, wound separation, skin death, and a higher risk of infection. Cotinine testing is performed in patients with a smoking history to ensure that they are safe when having this procedure.