Plastic surgeon Stephen D Bresnick, MD, argues that offering en bloc capsulectomies to women with self-reported symptoms of breast implant illness is ‘unethical,’ in a new Aesthetic Surgery Journal article, published February 20, 2024.
Once referred to as “BII,” surgical societies adopted the name SSBI for the condition following a series of Aesthetic Society-sponsored studies published in 2023.
The new acronym stands for Systemic Symptoms Associated With Breast Implants.
Dr. Stephen Bresnick argues that offering an en bloc capsulectomy as the solution to BII or SSBI is unethical, and a potential violation of the ethics codes of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery.
“Promoting en bloc capsulectomy for treatment of self-reported BII symptoms violates Section 2 of the ABPS Code of Ethics because surgeons are required to disclose up-to-date medical information to patients, including the fact that BII symptoms are equally reduced with procedures less invasive than en bloc techniques.”
Stephen D Bresnick, MD, En Bloc Resection for Self-Reported BII Symptoms: Why Offering This Procedure Is Unethical, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2024;, sjae043, https://doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjae043
The surgeon cites the case of a 37-year-old woman whom he treated in private practice after she elsewhere underwent an en bloc capsulectomy that failed to resolve her symptoms, and which left her displeased with the procedure’s aesthetic outcome.
Dr. Bresnick suggests that leading plastic surgery societies create “specialized BII websites and social media sites” to provide up-to-date information where patients can “educate themselves about the BII controversy.”
“These sites should be high on search lists and be promoted as ‘the truth’ about BII topics and en bloc procedures,” he says.
Stephen D Bresnick, En Bloc Resection for Self-Reported BII Symptoms: Why Offering This Procedure Is Unethical, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2024;, sjae043, https://doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjae043
See also, “Systemic Symptoms Associated With Breast Implants (SSBI): Current Evidence Shows Benefit of Implant Removal With or Without Capsulectomy.”