The global health scare sparked by the use of non-medical grade silicone in PIP breast implants is unlikely to have a long-term impact on the buoyancy of the cosmetic surgery industry, an international body of plastic surgeons said.
A new study by IMCAS (the International Master Course on Ageing Skin) found that beauty procedures worldwide including breast implants, liposuction and Botox injections rose 10.1 per cent year-on-year in 2011 to between 3.2 to 3.8 billion euros (£2.7 to £3.2 billion). This figure is set to grow 11.12 per cent this year, "demonstrating the sector's dynamism," the study said.
Paris-based IMCAS, which held its annual congress in Paris last week, represents plastic surgeons and dermatologists and aims to keep its members up-to-date with the latest innovations in the anti-ageing field.
Around 400,000 women worldwide, including 40,000 British women, are thought to have received implants manufactured by the now-closed French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), which used industrial-grade silicone that caused abnormally high rupture rates.
However, Laurent Brones, one of the authors of the study, said he believed the PIP scandal would not have a long-term effect on the growth of cosmetic procedures around the world.
"One thinks that the PIP affair will have short-term impact," he said. "There will surely be a negative effect but for a few months and it will be localised."
PIP was a "small manufacturer" which mainly exported to Europe and Latin America and not larger markets like the United States and Asia, he said, adding that, of the estimated 20 million women with breast implants worldwide, only 1.5 per cent were fitted with PIP products.
French authorities last week filed preliminary charges against the founder of PIP, Jean-Claude Mas. The 72-year-old was placed under investigation on a criminal charge of causing bodily harm, and later released on 100,000 euro (£83,000) bail and banned from leaving France.
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