A 3 1/2-year experience with double-lumen implants in breast surgery.

The use of the double-lumen implant, with 20 mg of Solu-Medrol or less, has improved the final results in patients having reconstruction after mastectomy. However, the results in patients having augmentation mammaplasties have been much more dramatic, with far superior results over those patients having a gel implant. During the first year the incidence of scar tissue problems is 17 times greater with the gel implants than with the double-lumen implants and 20 mg or less of Solu-Medrol. Scar capsules were also extremely amenable to closed capsulotomy after augmentation with the double-lumen implant, in marked contrast to the gel implant. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that the double-lumen implant and Solu-Medrol merely delays the eventual appearance of the scar tissue problem. The recommended dosage of Solu-Medrol would appear to be 20 mg and not less.