Yes, usually. But in most cases that only makes sense if there is not already a scar on the breast. Therefore, re-operation through the navel is usually only done for women who had their augmentation done that way in the first place, that is the TUBA procedure.
Having said that, re-operation via the navel does have some limits. It is no problem to remove and replace a failed implant through the navel, or to change the size to smaller, or to go very slightly larger, or to do very limited work on the scar tissue capsule. But some things are not done via the navel, including extensive work on the scar tissue, going considerably larger, doing a breast lift (mastopexy) or inserting a silicone gel type implant.
Across the country, the most frequent reason for re-operation within the first 3 years is to change size, most often to go larger, sometimes to go smaller, for a total of one out of five patients nationally. In contrast in our practice, a tremendous amount of time (hours!) is spent with each patient only on the question of size. By focusing on size determination in this way, we have achieved a twenty-fold reduction in the percentage of women needing reoperation to change size.
A less frequent reason for reoperation is for scar tissue hardening called capsular contracture in which the scar tissue tightens around the implant making it look and feel hard. The chance of this problem is 5% lifetime with saline implants, and 15% with silicone gel implants, as reported in the Plastic Surgery literature in early 2007.
There is an erroneous folklore belief that re-operation carries an increased chance of postoperative problems or complications. In particular, there is a mistaken belief that the chance of capsular contracture is higher after any kind of re-operation. That is only correct if the re-operation is done for the purpose of treating established capsular contracture. In that case, with each re-operation the chance of capsular contracture returning is greater, not because the re-operation is causing it, but rather because it is being demonstrated that the patient is more prone to the capsular hardening problem. For most re-operations, such as replacement for deflation, or change to a larger or smaller size of implants, re-operation carries an even lower chance of complications than the original augmentation. It is important to be clear on this point.
Keywords: Breast implants through the navel; Transumbilical breast implants; Belly-button breast implants; Through-the-navel breast enlargement; Through-the-navel breast augmentation; Trans-umbilical breast augmentation; Trans-umbilical breast enlargement; Belly-button breast enlargement; Belly-button breast augmentation; Breast enlargement through the navel; Breast augmentation through the navel; Navel breast enlargement; Navel breast augmentation; 'Scarless' breast enlargement; 'Scarless' breast augmentation.