Breast implant illness in silicone breast implant patients

This dissertation studied health complaints in Silicone Breast Implant (SBI) patients, known under the term Breast Implant Illness (BII). This is a symptom complex of non-specific health complaints such as muscle pain, joint pain, extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, pyrexia, dry eyes/dry mouth (sicca) and cognitive disturbances. Over the past decade, BII has been the subject of national attention in various ways, particularly in the media. The prevalence of BII complaints is not significantly higher in women with SBIs than in women without implants. SBI patients that make their complaints public are a selected group of patients, which are not representative for the general population of SBI patients. The authors emphasise that BII occurs only in a small group of, probably predisposed, women and that BII is not a recognised medical disease. Large prospective epidemiological research is needed to prove any possible association between health complaints and SBI.