Comprehensive Systematic Review of Breast Implant Illness: Symptoms, Management, and Long-Term Outcomes
A systematic review that pooled many published studies on breast implant illness — the symptoms reported, when they appear relative to implantation, and what patients report after explantation.
View original source ↗What this source says
The review gathers the published BII literature in one place, describing the systemic symptoms most commonly reported (with fatigue and joint pain among the most frequent), that symptoms are often reported years after implantation, and that many included studies report symptom improvement after implant removal.
Why it matters
It is one of the broadest current syntheses of the BII literature — useful for seeing patterns across many small, separate studies at once.
Key findings
- Pools a large number of published studies on breast implant illness.
- Fatigue and joint pain are among the most commonly reported symptoms.
- Symptoms are frequently reported years after implantation.
- Many included studies report symptom improvement after explantation.
Limitations
The included studies are heterogeneous and mostly lack control groups; reported improvement is patient-reported and subject to bias. (Specific pooled numbers should be read directly from the paper.)
What this does not prove
Pooling many uncontrolled studies cannot establish that implants cause these symptoms, nor that explantation is the cause of any reported improvement.
Source / citation
Alabdulkarim A, et al. · Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (Springer) · 2025 (published online July 11, 2024)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38992251/
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s00266-024-04129-4
- PMID:
- 38992251
Last reviewed against the original source: 2026-09-02. Summaries are written in plain language; the original source is authoritative.
Breast Implant Illness Tracker provides education and organizational tools only and does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment.