More and more women are choosing silicone breast implants over saline breast implants for a more natural looking and feeling breast. Silicone implants are pre-filled and need to be delivered through small incisions in order to minimize scar lengths. Implants are typically inserted through incisions under the breast fold or around the areola. The implant is inserted into the pocket with a surgeon’s gloved fingers and a pressure-thrusting motion. Launched in 2009, The Keller Funnel is a cone-shaped funnel that allows an easier insertion of silicone implants. It has a special smooth and slick interior surface, so that an implant placed into the funnel slides into place with minimal force, bypassing contact with the skin.
Potential benefits of using a Keller Funnel for placement of silicone breast implants include the following:
• The ability to place larger implants maintaining as short of an incision length as possible.
• Decreasing operative time.
• Decreasing the stress on the silicone implant shell.
• Reducing surgeon fatigue.
• Less trauma to surrounding skin and tissues during insertion.
In February 2012, The Aesthetic Surgery Journal published a cadaver study, which found that silicone breast implant delivery using the Keller Funnel reduced breast skin flora contamination by over 50%. Implications of this study are that the Keller Funnel’s ability to reduce the amount of skin contact and potential contamination during breast augmentation may lead to reduced patient infection rates and capsular contractures. Capsular contractures or scar tissue around an implant can affect up to 20% of women with breast implants over time. Although the etiology of capsular contracture is multifactorial, it is generally thought that bacterial contamination is one mechanism by which capsular contracture occurs. Further studies are needed in order to draw conclusions and prove that the Keller Funnel does in fact decrease risks for infection and capsular contracture.
Dr Brown is experienced using the Keller Funnel for silicone breast augmentation. It is a tool which enhances breast augmentation delivery in many types of patients. In certain patients with relatively small areola who desire periareolar placement, implants of larger sizes can be placed via this route without having to resort to an inframammary incision. Smaller incision lengths are always a plus, especially in women who desire larger or high profile implants which require more force for delivery. Patients with tighter tissues also may have easier implant insertion using Keller Funnels. They also have a role in patients undergoing breast reconstruction after mastectomy, where the Keller Funnel is being used successfully during the exchange of tissue expanders for the final silicone breast implants. Visit www.kellerfunnel.com patients for additional information.
Dr. Hayley Brown MD, FACS
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Desert Hills Plastic Surgery Center serving Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada
