Transumbilical Breast Augmentation
What You Need to Know About Transumbilical Breast Augmentation
Dr. Gerald W. Johnson invented transumbilical breast augmentation, or TUBA, and performed the first one in 1991, although today few surgeons use the technique for a variety of reasons. Some surgeons are simply not educated on how to perform a transumbilical breast augmentation, while others just don’t think the procedure is a good idea. World-renown Beverly Hills surgeon Dr. Stuart Linder says each month he sees several patients who had the TUBA procedure and are unhappy with the results. He says common complaints include breast implants which are either placed too high or too far apart.
The reason many women choose a transumbilical breast augmentation over other types of breast enhancement surgery is because the scar is hidden far from the breasts, down in the navel. This is why some surgeons refer to the TUBA procedure as scar-less breast augmentation. In other types of breast augmentation surgery, the scar may be hidden in the crease underneath the breast, in the armpit, or in the darker skin which surrounds the nipple.
During the transumbilical breast augmentation, the surgeon makes a tiny incision in the navel and uses an endoscope to create a tunnel through the fatty tissue to the breasts. The surgeon then places a temporary expander inside the breast to form a pocket. Once the pocket is ready for the breast implant, the surgeon uses the endoscope to guide the saline implant into place. He then fills the implant with saline up to the requested size.
Breast implants placed during a TUBA procedure can be placed partially below the pectoral muscle if desired. This type of placement is called sub-muscular placement, and it gives a more natural look to the breast implants because the muscles cover the edges of them. It can be even more difficult to find a surgeon to perform a sub-muscular placement during a TUBA procedure. This is because of the few surgeons who are trained on performing TUBA procedures, even fewer of them are trained on sub-muscular placement during the TUBA. Some surgeons say it simply can’t be done.
Recovery time from a transumbilical breast augmentation is much shorter than that of other kinds of breast enhancement surgery because it’s less invasive. Patients who have the TUBA procedure also report less post-op discomfort. However, surgeons performing the transumbilical breast augmentation are working farther from the breast than surgeons who perform other kinds of breast augmentation surgeries. This can affect the accuracy in placing the breast implants. The risk of infection is also reduced with the TUBA procedure because the surgical instruments never touch the breast area, where bacteria are known to live around the milk ducts. A woman’s ability to breastfeed after breast augmentation is much higher with the TUBA procedure because it does not touch the milk ducts.
One problem after the TUBA procedure is that sometimes it leaves visual tracks from the navel to the breasts. This problem is rare because usually the tissue moves back into place, but for a few patients it does not, which causes the tracks to be permanent.