Elsevier

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

Volume 60, Issue 5, November 1995, Pages 1417-1419
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

Case report
Silicone thorax: a complication of tube thoracostomy in the presence of mammary implants

https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-4975(95)00499-BGet rights and content

Rupture of silicone breast implants is usually either iatrogenic or due to trauma. We present a case of blunt chest wall trauma in a patient with bilateral breast implants. Emergency chest tube thoracostomy resulted in rupture of one of the prostheses and caused subsequent migration of silicone into the chest cavity, where it led to empyema. The patient ultimately required a thoracotomy to evacuate the silicone and decorticate the lung. Review of the literature and methods to avoid this complication are described.

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