Saline implants once accounted for over 90% of all implants placed for primary breast augmentations. These implants have a silicone shell and are filled with saline ("IV Fluid"). Saline breast implants come from the manufacturer filled with air. The air is removed prior to placement of the implant during breast augmentation and the implants are filled with saline once they are in place. This allows for very short incisions (approximately 1-2 inches) to be used to increase your breast size. There two main advantages of the saline breast implant for breast augmentation. First, there is no controversy surrounding the use of saline breast implants. This is as compared to silicone gel breast implants which, at one time, were very controversial for breast augmentation (although this controversy is now extinct). Second, if a saline breast implant ruptures, or leaks, after breast augmentation, the patient knows about relatively quickly. The body absorbs the fluid (there is no risk as it is the body's natural fluid) and the breast gets smaller than it had been after augmentation. Essentially, this second advantage is that if a leak occurs, the patient knows.
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