Correlation between Implant Volume and BMI Found in Breast Augmentation Study

A statistically significant positive correlation of BMI and implant volume for breast augmentation patients in two U.S. cities was found in a study that examined physical characteristics and implant details of breast augmentation patients in three cities. In other words, it found that the higher the patient’s BMI, the larger the implant volume the patient received. A third city that took part in the study, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, also had this trend, but it was not statistically significant.

“Implications from this correlation found in our study include possibly improving implant volume predictions preoperatively, leading to improved efficiency, outcomes and reduced reoperation rates,” the researchers wrote. They also said that a patient’s BMI could potentially provide an additional data point on which to make operative planning decisions.

The study examined 100 breast augmentation cases each in the three cities in order to gather patient demographics, which the authors said were lacking from other research, despite the increase in the procedure. According to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there has been a 45 percent increase in women seeking breast augmentation since 2000.

In addition to BMI and implant volume, the study also gathered data on each patient’s height, weight, age and the number of children the patient had.

The three geographic group medians were significantly different for weight, BMI and implant volume. The Canadian city had the lowest BMI and Temple, Tex. had the highest. Temple patients had the smallest average implant size, significantly lower than the other two cities.

The study also looked at the combined data for all 300 patients and found, on average, the breast augmentation patients studied were 34 years old, 5’ 4” tall and 128 pounds.

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