Bicep Implant Revision

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in bicep implant revision. One of my bicep implants is outside the fascia and the surgeon only sutured it to other tissue as a solution. Can it be re-implanted correctly? My surgery was five months ago. It is too late to fix? What has been your experience with this problem?

A: Whether you can have a successful bicep implant revision depends on the reason your implant currently sits outside of the proper subfascial pocket. If the fascia has not been torn or disrupted, then the implant should be able to be placed into the subfascial position. This would presumably have occurred because the surgeon intentionally placed it above the fascia for whatever reason. This would be favorable for a successful subfascial repositioning. If the implant ended up outside of the pocket because the fascia was torn or disrupted during its initial placement, then repositioning would not likely be successful because surgical repair of the fascia is very difficult due to limited surgical access. This does not mean it is impossible but an intact fascia along the longitudinal axis of the implant location is important to maintain the implant in the pocket.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana