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Clinical Experience with Treatment of Aquafilling Filler-Associated Complications: A Retrospective Study of 146 Cases

  • Original Article
  • Breast Surgery
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Abstract

Background

Aquafilling filler is used for breast and buttock augmentation, which are the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery procedures. However, complications after using Aquafilling filler for breast augmentation have been reported, and there are concerns regarding its use in large areas, such as the buttocks. We provide our experience with complications after breast augmentation and buttock augmentation using Aquafilling filler.

Methods

This observational cohort study analyzed the data of 399 patients treated for filler-related complications at our institutes from September 2015 to November 2019. Of these patients, 146 underwent surgery to remove Aquafilling filler from the breast or buttock.

Results

The mean time between Aquafilling filler use and complication onset was 38.5 ± 10.2 months. The average amount of filler material removed from one side of the breast or buttock was 285.5 ± 95.8 mL (range 150–750 mL). The most common complications were induration and masses (83.6%), followed by pain (52.1%), firmness (24.7%), asymmetry (10.3%), migration (8.2%), mastitis (6.8%), dimpling (6.2%), fever (3.4%), and sepsis (n = 1). After treatment, there was no recurrence of infection, and the patient satisfaction level based on the visual analogue scale was 8.0 ± 0.9.

Conclusions

Although Aquafilling filler is easily injectable and has long-term clinical effects, complications can occur. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding its toxicity and influence on the surrounding tissues. Hence, further research studies on Aquafilling filler and evidence regarding its long-term safety are needed.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Sik Namgoong and Hong-Kyu Kim contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, Inchon-ro 73, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea

    Sik Namgoong, Yongjae Hwang, Hi-Jin You, Deok-Woo Kim & Eul-Sik Yoon

  2. Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Hong-Kyu Kim

  3. Department of Surgery, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Inchon-ro 73, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea

    Seung-Ho Shin & Seung Pil Jung

  4. Shinyu Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Seung-Ho Shin

  5. Department of Pathology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Aeree Kim

Authors
  1. Sik Namgoong
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  2. Hong-Kyu Kim
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  4. Seung-Ho Shin
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  7. Aeree Kim
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  8. Seung Pil Jung
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  9. Eul-Sik Yoon
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Seung Pil Jung or Eul-Sik Yoon.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose and received no financial support.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards, and all patients provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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Video 1. The video demonstrates the intraoperative findings of the patient with breast augmentation performed using Aquafilling filler whose materials were scattered throughout the breast muscle fibers (Case 2). (WMV 118883 kb)

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Namgoong, S., Kim, HK., Hwang, Y. et al. Clinical Experience with Treatment of Aquafilling Filler-Associated Complications: A Retrospective Study of 146 Cases. Aesth Plast Surg 44, 1997–2007 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01889-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01889-7

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