Silicones Used in Medicine

Although the term silicone refers to a group of organic silicone compounds, the one most commonly used in medicine is composed of a polymer known as dimethypolysiloxane (DMPS). In silicone gel the polymer is cross-linked the more cross-linking, the more solid is the gel. Liquid silicone consists of glucose-linked DMPS polymer chains. Silicones first became commercially available in 1943, with the first subdermal implantation of silicone occurring in the late 1940s [1-3]. Silicones have since been developed for a wide variety of medical applications, most notably in joint and breast prostheses. 

There is a large body of literature attesting to the chemical and physical inertness of silicone [4-12]. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the possible adverse effects of silicones used in implantation. Much of the literature describing the adverse effects of silicone has been in reference to direct silicone injection. The following discussion will review the immunologic effects of prostheses used in breast reconstruction and augmentation. 

---