Augmentation mastopexy

m Augmentation/mastopexy when performed in a single stage presents more significant challenges than either augmentation or mastopexy alone. The combination of breast augmentation and mastopexy in one stage exponentially increases the risk of complications than either surgery carries alone. Its reputation within plastic surgery as a significant source of litigation is well established. The complexity of a one-stage augmentation/mastopexy is a result of combining the expansion of breast volume while at the same time reducing the skin envelope, effectively two opposing goals. As a one-stage procedure, augmentation/mastopexy is associated with all of the risks of breast augmentation and mastopexy, including nipple malposition, inadequate ptosis correction, misshapened areolas, poor scarring, capsular contracture, and implant malposition. Theoretically, increased risks and uncertainties also include wound healing problems, skin necrosis, implant extrusion, infection, and misalignment of the nipple, gland, and implant. Although loss of the nipple is not a risk typically associated with either mastopexy or augmentation alone, it is a risk of augmentation/mastopexy when the two operations are combined. The inherent risks of this procedure have not affected its popularity among patients. Between 1997 and 2007, there was a 395% increase in the frequency of breast augmentation and an equal increase in breast lift procedures. The number of combined augmentation/mastopexy procedures has similarly increased in frequency because of the convenience of a single-stage operation. The authors have previously written