SILICONE THORAX - A COMPLICATION OF TUBE THORACOSTOMY IN THE PRESENCEOF MAMMARY IMPLANTS

Rupture of silicone breast implants is usually either iatrogenic or du e to trauma. We present a case of blunt chest wall trauma in a patient with bilateral breast implants. Emergency chest tube thoracostomy res ulted in rupture of one of the prostheses and caused subsequent migrat ion of silicone into the chest cavity, where it led to empyema. The pa tient ultimately required a thoracotomy to evacuate the silicone and d ecorticate the lung. Review of the literature and methods to avoid thi s complication are described.