As you may know, breast implants are subject to wear and tear, and the outer envelope of an implant can break down. According to information published by one of the major manufacturers of breast implants: “Breast implants are not considered lifetime devices. You will likely undergo implant removal with or without replacement over the course of your life.”
Data published by the by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration show that:
Data available for silicone-filled implants shows similar trends.
Each year that a saline-filled implant is in the body, the chances that it will rupture go up by about 1%. Leaks and ruptures of silicone-filled implants often go unnoticed and can be difficult to detect, unlike leaks or ruptures of saline-filled implants, which are generally easily detected. For this reason, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that women who have silicone gel-filled breast implants be screened with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) very frequently (at years 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 after surgery).
According to the FDA publication Breast Implants––Potential Local Complications and Reoperations:
In spite of the potential downsides, implant-based breast reconstruction is still chosen by many women. For women who wish to undergo breast reconstruction without an implant, natural-tissue breast reconstruction procedures may be appealing.