SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE COVID PANDEMIC, THE MAJORITY OF SURGICAL EDUCATION HAS MOVED TO ONLINE WEBINARS RATHER THAN FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS.
The European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS) is the overarching surgical association in Europe for plastic surgeons and they have created a series of educational webinars throughout the year to keep European plastics surgeons up to date with recent developments in the speciality.
Our senior partner, Mr Harris, hosted a webinar for EURAPS in December 2021 focused on breast implant illness, breast implant removal and breast implant surveillance (checking). Mr Harris brought together the faculty of acknowledged experts and also presented a talk on auto-augmentation techniques following implant removal. He commented that:
“More and more patients now ask for their breast implants to be removed and this can lead to very saggy, bottom-heavy breasts afterwards. However, the residual breast tissue can be re-shaped and fixed higher on the chest wall to ensure that patients get the best possible outcomes following such surgery. This evolving area of breast aesthetic surgery is known as ‘auto-augmentation’.”
Another SPS partner specialising in breast surgery, Mr Khan, also presented on the subject of breast implant surveillance to maintain a safety check for those patients with breast implants. He commented that:
“We can no longer simply discharge patients completely with breast implants, they need to have regular scans to check on their implants and breasts. We can also undertake some blood tests to make sure there are no wider effects on the body from the implants. This is an area not fully understood by most surgeons, which is why I was asked to present the most recent data available to the webinar.”
