Management of periprosthetic breast infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The current management of an infected breast implant is varied. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to synthesise the current evidence and establish the efficacy of the various managements of infected breast implants.

A comprehensive search in the MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL databases was conducted for primary clinical studies that report on the management of infected breast implants from 1946 to September 2019. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients with successful treatment.

Nineteen articles that involve 1044 patients were included. Overall, 29.00% (95% CI = from 11.51% to 50.58%) of the patients with mild infection were treated exclusively with antibiotics, of which, 81.41% (95% CI = from 57.82% to 96.63%) were successfully treated without the need for surgical intervention. Another 39.01% (95% CI = from 21.41% to 58.23%) of the patients underwent surgical salvage of the infected breast implants, of which 84.56% (95% CI = from 74.92% to 92.20%) successfully retained the salvaged implants without infection recurrence. Meanwhile, 35.01% (95% CI = from 27.01% to 43.57%) of the patients underwent explantation of the infected breast implant, of which, only 39.02% (95% CI = from 23.93% to 55.28%) had re-insertion of a new implant on a later date and 4.99% (95% CI = from 1.66% to 9.99%) of these patients had recurrence of infection requiring removal of the infected implant. The commonest complication was capsular contracture, which was reported in 10.78% (95% CI = from 4.41% to 19.49%) of the patients. Changes in the quality of life and cost implications were not reported.

This study consolidates current available evidence on the management of infected breast implants, which could assist decision-making and improve patient education; however, current data are limited because of the lack of level-1 evidence.