After an FDA moratorium (or ban) on silicon breast implants in 1992, medical professionals and researchers have developed a more reliable alternative that got the FDA’s go-ahead for clinical testing. Doctors and patients refer to this new implant in two ways: one more official, the other a little more familiarly. Officially, they’re known as cohesive gel implants. But you can call them gummy bear implants because of how they have the overall feel of gummies. (Of course, that doesn’t mean you can eat them.)
The reason for the somewhat-more-official identification as “cohesive” gel implants is because they literally hold together, or stick together. This is very much unlike the alternative: saline solution-filled sacks.
Cohesive gel implants were developed in response to the reason that silicon-filled implants were banned. You see, the outer shells that were filled with silicon solution had tendencies to burst. It wasn’t long before the FDA took note, and said “no way” to those silicon-filled implants.
The new cohesive gel implants are, for the most part, the opposite kind of implant. They are composed of a semi-solid gel, not liquid. It’s much less likely that the cohesive gel substance will leak from the implant. Additionally, there’s the advantage of the way the cohesive material conforms to a given shape more readily than silicon solution. Liquid-filled implants were subject to the forces of gravity, so they had a tendency to be more bottom-heavy. In short, bottom-heavy implants didn’t please patients as much as they’d hoped.
But cohesive gel implants are not yet fully medically approved as they’re still undergoing clinical testing. That basically means that the negative and positive outcomes of cohesive gel implants aren’t completely understood or recognized yet.
For that reason, cohesive gel implants aren’t available to everyone, and there’s no guarantee that they will perform as promised.
Not all doctors offer cohesive gel implants. You’ll have to do a search and discover which doctors are performing clinical trials with these implants. But a good place to start is to make sure the doctors you’re looking at are all certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Who is this surgery for?
The cohesive gel implant trials are open to patients looking for first-time breast augmentation, to those looking for a revision to or reconstruction of a former breast implant job, and to those seeking breast reconstruction after a mastectomy (an operation that removes a breast – often a treatment for breast cancer).
Basically, people look for cohesive gel implants for cosmetic reasons. In the case of having these implants after mastectomy, it’s not only cosmetic, but functional, in response to a necessary former procedure (to remove the breast in response to cancer).
Benefits and Risks
Doctors are finding that cohesive gel implants are indeed holding their intended shape. And they are not leaking in the numbers that saline solution- and silicon-filled implants do.
However, choosing an implant that’s too large can cause serious surgical complications or make the implant visible through the skin.
The U.S. data on this kind of implant is not complete enough for doctors to truly support the surgery’s advantages, according to Steven Teitelbaum, MD, FACS, an aesthetic surgeon based in California.
And it’s not absolutely understood what the results are if cohesive gel implants leak or burst. It’s still too early to know what the chances are of the implants rupturing, according to a Dallas-based plastic surgeon known as Dr. Adams.
The Bottom Line
Cohesive gel implants might be an excellent alternative to saline solution-filled implants. Because this is a new kind of implant, it’s offered through clinical trials only, and the long-term results are yet unknown.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
