Elective surgery is not usually within the scope of this database. However, the current debate about implants illustrates a more general problem of medicalising a sense of low well-being and finding an identifiable event to blame.
Any defect in the implant or defective surgery could heighten such concerns, but wouldn’t necessarily make them any more valid. Besides medical liability, product liability could be in the frame.
Evidence from:
P Tugwell et al. Arthritis and Rheumatism. November (2001) Vol. 44 # 11. p 2477.
Links between silicone implants and rheumatological disease have been promoted for many years.
This research paper is a review of all the evidence for such an association.
1773 relevant articles using any sort of connective tissue disease (CTD) (including rheumatoid arthritis etc.) outcome as the variable of interest.
NO association was found between a new syndrome or established diagnoses.
Full report available:
http://www.fjc.gov/breimlit/science/report.htm
Comment
Agrees with AJ Silman’s UK review (1998):
http://www.silicone-review.gov.uk
The result will probably not deter people, who’s health has taken a turn for the worse, from seeking to lay the blame at the door of some previous health event. It is likely that they will seek an alternative diagnosis to CTD.