Implant Deflation (saline) or Rupture (silicone)
All implants will eventually rupture or “fail”—it’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when. This is why all patients are told to expect future surgeries or breast revisions.
Saline implants deflate, whereas silicone implants rupture. Saline deflation is obvious—the breast becomes smaller as the fluid is absorbed by the body.
A silicone implant rupture, on the other hand, is not so obvious. Silicone implants generally don’t change size, as the silicone does not get absorbed by the body because it is cohesive and tends to stay within the implant capsule. 
This may be good or bad for silicone implants, depending on your perspective. Silicone implants can perform like a “run flat tire,” as they will continue to work and appear normal in most cases. If a patient experiences symptoms from a silicone implant rupture, pain and breast contracture are probably the most common.
In reference to fixing these complications, a saline implant deflation is relatively “clean” compared to a silicone implant rupture. Although the silicone material does not “flow” like saline, it still requires more work to remove all the silicone material from the pocket. The silicone breast implant and the surrounding implant capsule behave like a “double hulled” ship. The rupture of the implant shell is contained by the implant capsule (outer layer of scar tissue surrounding the implant).
It is not an emergency if your implants fail. Many people think it is beneficial to get CT or MRI examinations, but it can be difficult to determine if an implant has deflated or ruptured with these tests. For this reason, I would recommend that you forgo expensive tests that expose you to radiation when you think you are having a problem like contracture or deflation. Instead, get into your Board Certified Plastic Surgeon within a week or two for an evaluation. I usually recommend simply an exchange of implants for this type of complication.
