Open AccessThe financial burden of complications of overseas breast implants at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
Author(s) -
Isabel Gonzalez Matheus,
Matthew Peters,
Marie-Claire Edmunds
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
australasian journal of plastic surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2209-170X
DOI - 10.34239/ajops.v5n1.254
Subject(s) - medicine , specialty , implant , breast implant , public hospital , general surgery , medical emergency , emergency medicine , surgery , family medicine , nursing
Background: An increasing number of Australians are travelling overseas for aesthetic surgery. This study aims to establish the financial costs of complications arising from overseas inserted implants. Method: Data from the Australian Breast Device Registry (ABDR) on patients who have undergone remov-al of overseas inserted implants at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital from October 2014 to Octo-ber 2019 was analysed. Financial costs were calculated using electronic medical records and discharge codes.Results: Of the 331 cases of implant removals recorded, only eight (2.4%) were from overseas inserted de-vices. Seven of these were performed as emergency procedures. Two patients required more than one op-eration. Length of stay (LOS) ranged from two to 28 days with a median LOS of 8.6 days. Most patients had multidisciplinary team involvement with infectious diseases being the most consulted specialty. All pa-tients required in hospital IV antibiotic therapy and dressing changes. All were offered more than one out patient follow-up appointment. The total cost to our department surpassed AU$110 000 which represents four per cent of the total hospital spending on breast device explantations. Conclusion: Surgical complications from overseas implant procedures cost a small percentage of the hos-pital budget for breast procedures. However, with the increasing popularity of cosmetic tourism, this fig-ure could increase in the following years. We can use this information to educate individuals on making better choices while potentially reducing the financial burden to public hospitals in Queensland.