A 31-year-old woman residing in Bac Giang Province, northern Vietnam noticed her breast was swollen and painful and she was suffering a fever after undergoing breast augmentation with shockwaves at a spa in Hanoi.

The Hanoi-based 108 Military Central Hospital on Monday admitted a patient named N. due to painful red abscesses on her left breast.

A month ago, after N. found an advertisement about breast augmentation at a spa in Hanoi on social media, she quickly traveled there in the hope of enhancing her breast, N. recounted.

The breast augmentation with shockwaves cost VND6 million (US$257.4), she added.

“The owner of the spa, however, said that high quality shockwaves would be used for my medical operation, so she asked me to pay VND20 million [$858], either after the surgery or in installments," N. said.

"The spa staff covered my eyes to perform the surgery."

After the breast augmentation, N. experienced chest pain, shortness of breath, and a rash a day later.

She was rushed to Bac Thang Long General Hospital in Bac Giang Province for emergency treatment.

She returned to the spa to question the problem after being released from the hospital. The owner of the spa told her that she was injected with implants before they put thread into her breast.

N. continued to suffer breast pain and skin rashes though the spa already removed the thread and melted the implants.

She received treatment at the province’s hospital and used anti-inflammatory drugs for nearly one month, but her health did not improve, so she visited 108 Military Central Hospital for a medical examination. 

After conducting a thorough medical check-up and tests, doctors found she was infected with staphylococcus aureus, which is a dangerous bacteria causing many clinical diseases in humans.

Dr. Luu Phuong Lan from the hospital said that implants of unclear origin caused abscesses or breast lumps after breast augmentation surgery.

“Many patients suffered severe abscesses after having had strange substances implanted into their breast many times for five, 10 or 20 years," Dr. Lan said.

"They must undergo medical operations for treatment and even have their breasts removed."

Over the past few months, the hospital has admitted many cases of complications of filler injection.

Most of the victims found spas and beauty facilities for breast augmentation from advertisements on social media, Dr. Lan said.

She advised women who intend to undergo breast augmentation surgery to carefully garner information about surgical methods and get feedback on spas and surgeons’ experience and skills to minimize potential risks and complications after the medical operation.

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