11:19 AM CST on Thursday, March 16, 2006

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

Dr. Adams soaks an implant in an antibiotic solution before the procedure.

It's not just models and movie stars who have breast implants.

Nearly 300,000 "ordinary" women had their figures enhanced last year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery.

Alessandra Reyna, 32, has wanted to be one of them, but said she was scared.

"I was scared," she said, and so she resisted for years. "The infections; the risk; the look."

Those are concerns also shared by Dallas plastic surgeon Dr. William Adams. He says regardless of whether women choose saline or silicone implants, about one in 10 patients will have some sort of complication.

The most common complaint is hardening, which could lead to pain or possibly removal.

"It's clearly a problem that we'd like to address and like to eliminate as much as possible," Dr. Adams said.

In the last few years, Dr. Adams has developed and tested a triple-antibiotic liquid. It kills the bacteria responsible for hardening and breaking down breast implants.

The implant is soaked in the antibiotic—as is the breast cavity—before the device is placed.

Dr. Adams' research, recently published in a top journal for plastic surgeons, shows it cuts complications from one in 10 women to less than two percent.

"I think patients can go into it feeling better and more secure that they're going to have an optimized, safer result," Dr. Adams said.

Dr. Adams hopes the antibiotic solution could even add to the life of an implant. Right now, they only last about a decade before a replacement is necessary.

The antibiotic solution is being more widely used by plastic surgeons. Patients can ask for it before surgery.

Better safety finally convinced Alessandra Reyna to take the plunge.

"I feel great," she said. "It's boosted my self-confidence. I'm kicking myself for not doing it five years before, but I wouldn't have had the advantages I have now, so I'm glad I waited."

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com