Preoperative Breast Analysis and Patient Education Traffic Light Tool for Secondary Breast Implant Surgery

Secondary breast implant surgery is a significant and important part of aesthetic breast surgery practice. It is more complex and variable surgery than primary augmentation surgery. Secondary implant surgery may be related to problems with the implant, overlying breast tissue or both. Systematic anatomical breast analysis as well as patient education regarding their anatomy and how it influences their surgical options and outcomes is a vital part of the preoperative consultation and surgery planning. We propose a traffic light tool for secondary breast implant surgery patients that classifies their anatomical complexity and difficulty into three levels; Level 1 (green) with little anatomical distortion and good quality tissues, Level 2 (amber) with some anatomical complexities or compromised breast tissues and Level 3 (red) with significantly complex breast anatomy or poor-quality breast tissues. Use of this traffic light system guides the surgeon to systematically analyse the breast and produces a clear visual aid for patient education.