Recently, I was out with some friends and our usual waitress told us she would not be there the next couple of weeks because she was having breast surgery. When my friends volunteered that I was a plastic surgeon and had over 2000 happy breast augmentation patients in Naples, she quickly explained that she was going to a surgeon in the East coast of Florida who performed the surgery through the belly button also nown as the TUBA.
Unfortunately I have more experience fixing the results of these than I care to have. There was a surgeon here who specialized in TUBAs. He is no longer practicing and I have seen the usual lists of complications associated with this procedure. The main problem with it is the lack of precise control. Kind of like painting a corner of a room with a pole and a brush while standing outside the room! The other problem is that the natural position that the implant goes is the
subglandular (above the muscle) position. That is a whole other story. Even when the surgeons claim that they are getting it behind the muscle I have found one behind and one in front on the same patient. the third problem is the need to use saline implants even on thin patients with thin breast tissue. These cases would be better served by silicone gel implants.
The most common problem I see is that the implants drop like bombs in 2-3 years and then often require a lift!. The excuses used by TUBA advocates is that you don't have a scar in the breast and you don't alter nipple sensation. If I had bad scars from the periareolar (around the nipple) scar.. I would not have done 2000+ breast augmentations. The same goes for losing sensation of the nipple….Bull#%&@!
Let's face it, it's a gimmick.. and not a good one. In defense of the surgeon.. the young lady said he had recommended Silicone gel through a periareolar approach. He had the right idea, but he did not emphasize the importance of the right approach and implant because he did not want to lose a patient.
