WOMEN undergoing a new type of breast enlargement will be able to go out to dinner on the evening of their operation, British plastic surgeons will be told this week.

John Tebbetts, a Texan plastic surgeon, will tell the annual meeting of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons the augmentation can be carried out in 30 minutes and will greatly reduce the damage to skin and breast tissue.

Tebbetts, based in Dallas, said: “After the surgery we tell the women to go home, have a little nap then get up after two hours, wash their hair, which helps them stretch their muscles, then to go out to dinner. Between 80 and 85% of our patients go out on the evening of their surgery.”

The operation, marketed as the “out to dinner” breast augmentation, involves carrying out exact measurements of the breast skin and tissue in advance so that exactly the right size of implant is inserted.

Completing the operation in between 30 to 40 minutes means the woman requires low levels of anaesthetic drugs.

Tebbetts avoids bleeding by using an extremely precise cutting device. His patients are promised no tubes, no visible bruising and no need for special bras. They can drive on the day of surgery and resume normal activities the next day.

But Tebbetts says women need to be educated out of thinking they require a period of convalescence. “Women have got to get out of the mindset that they are going to be ill after this operation.”

Patrick Mallucci, a British consultant plastic surgeon, will this week unveil his formula for the perfectly proportioned breast to an augmentation symposium at the Royal College of Surgeons.

Mallucci said the ideal breast has the nipple sitting about 45% from the top, pointing slightly skyward. “An attractive breast has a balanced proportion between the upper half and lower half. All the models I looked at conformed to those parameters.”

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