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Objective Clinical Assessment of Posture Patterns after Implant Breast Augmentation
Giovanni Nicoletti1, Silvia Mandrini, Valentina Finotti
1Pavia, Italy From Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Clinical Surgical Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, Advanced Technologies for Regenerative Medicine and Inductive Surgery Research Center, and Department of Computer Engineering and Systems Science, University of Pavia; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, University of Pavia San Matteo Research and Care Institute; and the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit and Laboratory of Informatics and Systems Engineering for Clinical Research, Salvatore Maugeri Research and Care Institute.
Background:
An increased weight of the breasts causes several spinal postural alterations that reduce the ability to perform dynamic tasks requiring a stable balance. The effects of the increased weight of the breasts on static posture after implant breast augmentation have not been investigated yet.
Methods:
Forty volunteer healthy women were asked to wear different sized breast implants (800, 400, and 300 g) inside a dedicated sports bra for 6½ consecutive hours during their everyday life activities, 1 day for every implant size. Posture changes were assessed with the association of a physiatric clinical examination with a static force platform analysis.
Results:
A significant increase in cervical lordosis after the use of 400-g breast implants and upward was demonstrated. This alteration was stable between the 400-g and 800-g breast implants. The 400-g (per breast) implant might therefore be the load threshold that breaks the cervical postural physiologic balance. A significant increase in lumbar lordosis was demonstrated only after the use of the 800-g breast implants. The static force platform assessment demonstrated a worsening of the balance independent from the visual control with the use of 400-g and 800-g implants.
Conclusions:
Heavy breast implants proved to induce reversible alterations in the spinal curve, and 400 g is the cutoff for functional physiologic compensation in the short term. Such a weight might be considered the safety limit for the use of breast implants for cosmetic purposes.
