More than 200,000 women in the Netherlands have breast implants. Previous research has shown that there are women who report health complaints after receiving a breast implant, such as chronic fatigue and joint complaints. In order to gain more insight into how often these complaints occur and what plays a role in this, the Ministry of Health has commissioned follow-up research. RIVM is coordinating the four-year research program that will be carried out by Nivel, Maastricht University, Erasmus MC, the Dutch Breast Implant Registry, Amsterdam UMC, and the Netherlands Cancer Institute. This is reported by the RIVM.
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Breast implants are medical devices used for breast reconstruction or breast augmentation. On behalf of the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ), RIVM has previously carried out an inventory of health complaints of women with silicone breast implants. This study showed that there is a group of women who report physical complaints, such as chronic fatigue, joint complaints and problems with memory and concentration.
It remained unclear how many women with breast implants have complaints and why one does have symptoms and the other does not. In July 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Health announced research into health problems with silicone breast implants in a letter to parliament.
Research into health complaints
The institutions involved are investigating whether there is a link between silicone breast implants and the reported health complaints. In addition, they are investigating how often health problems occur in women with a silicone breast implant compared to women without an implant. The researchers also focus on whether women with certain risk factors are more susceptible than others to developing health problems after having a silicone breast implant.
The program consists of three studies. The research conducted by the Amsterdam UMC started in 2020 and collects new data from patients with breast implants who have many health problems via the silicone outpatient clinic that has been in existence since 2012. This year, Nivel, in collaboration with Maastricht University, started research that uses anonymized data from health care records of both general practitioners and specialists in hospitals and clinics and the Dutch breast implant register. Research was also recently started by the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Erasmus MC aimed at women with breast reconstruction after having had breast cancer. The research program will run for four years. Interim results will be announced earlier.
By: National Care Guide
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