This is a controversial question, but implant manufacturers have done research showing that local complications, including pain, rupture, and the need for additional surgery, are very common within the first three years. The need for additional surgery is especially high for mastectomy patients who underwent reconstruction. Within 10-12 years, most women will have at least one broken implant, although women with silicone gel implants don’t always realize it. Research by scientists at the National Cancer Institute found that women with breast implants for at least seven years are more likely to die from brain cancer, lung cancer, or suicide, compared to other plastic surgery patients of the same age. There are also concerns that breast implants may be associated with other health risks such as autoimmune diseases; unfortunately little research on long-term risks has been done. In addition, breast implants can interfere with cancer detection, as implants can obscure the mammography image of a tumor. Mammogram machinery can also rupture an implant.
Debate swirls over the risks of breast implants, and women considering implants are justifiably confused by the conflicting information available. We’ve posted several articles, including a History of the FDA and Breast Implants, Silicone Breast Implants: No Safety Data Mean No Real Choices, the testimony of the American College of Women’s Health Physicians at the 2005 FDA hearings on silicone implants, and a letter to the FDA from several women's groups about recent research findings that increase concerns about the safety of silicone implants.
Breast cancer patients often face difficult decisions about breast reconstruction without the information they need to be fully informed. A 2006 report, Decisions in the Dark: The FDA, Breast Cancer Survivors, and Silicone Implants (.pdf), summarizes research by implant makers, government scientists, and university faculty to determine what is known about short-term and long-term risks for breast cancer survivors and for women who may get breast cancer in the future.