Breast Augmentation Turkey: Your Implant's Record Stays There

When a breast implant model turns out to be faulty, regulators need to find the women who have it. Several countries now keep registries for exactly that purpose. The trouble for anyone who had surgery abroad is that each registry records operations done on its own soil.

Türkiye does track implants. Its national product-tracking system requires hospitals to log each implanted device against the patient, including foreign patients by passport number. But that record sits in Türkiye. Nothing in the sources reviewed here shows it reaching the registry in the patient's home country, which is where a recall notice would be sent from.

This article compares the registries in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, the US and Türkiye, and explains what a patient who travels for surgery should keep.

Who registers what

Why registries exist: PIP and textured implants

Two scandals built these systems. The first involved the French company Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), whose implants used substandard gel.¹⁰ The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) said in 2011 that the PIP scare exposed "a serious lack of records".¹⁰

The problem was worse abroad. BAAPS warned that PIP implants had been rebranded as "M-Implant" and sold in Belgium, Poland and the Czech Republic, all destinations for British patients.¹⁰ It advised women who had surgery abroad to contact their clinic to find out what they had. Some could no longer reach it.¹⁰

The second case was a cancer risk. In July 2019, Allergan withdrew its Biocell textured implants worldwide at the request of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).¹¹ They were linked to breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a rare lymphoma that can develop around implants.¹¹ A US registry had recorded about 735 cases worldwide by then.¹¹

The registries at home

England launched its registry in October 2016. NHS standards say it "records the details of any individual who has breast implant surgery, so they can be traced in the event of a product recall".¹ It covers NHS and private providers in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.¹

It depends on consent. In 2018 the three main surgical associations said "submission to the registry is not mandatory", and urged women to agree to it.² More than 20,000 operations had been recorded by then.³ The sources reviewed do not show a change since.

The Netherlands chose an opt-out model. Its registry started on 1 April 2015 and is mandatory for board-certified plastic surgeons, who perform about 95% of implant procedures.⁴ Its stated purposes include "track and trace" in case of a recall.⁴

Australia also uses opt-out. Fewer than 1% of patients opt out, and Commonwealth funding followed a Senate inquiry into PIP.⁵ The registry was able to identify women who had received PIP implants.⁵

Germany made reporting compulsory. Under its 2020 implant register law, breast implant procedures have been reportable since 1 July 2024.⁶ The government says the register aims to "improve the safety and quality of implants".⁶

The US registry is voluntary. It opened in 2018, built with the FDA and implant makers, and is available to any site that performs breast implant procedures.⁷ Nearly 100 sites registered at launch.⁷

Türkiye: tracked, but not shared

Türkiye's system is not a clinical registry, but it does track devices to patients. The national medicines and medical devices agency runs it. It says the system follows each device from production or import "to the place where it is sold and used", so unsafe products can be withdrawn quickly.⁸

When a hospital implants a device, it files a "usage notification". For Turkish citizens this records the national identity number and name. For foreigners it records a foreign identity number or a passport number, plus name.⁹

So a British or German woman who has implants fitted in Istanbul is, in principle, on a Turkish record. The open question is what happens next. A recall in Türkiye would start from a Turkish record, while the patient is back in Manchester or Munich. None of the sources reviewed describes how, or whether, a foreign patient would be contacted.

What the comparison leaves out

None of these systems publishes how many of its residents have implants fitted abroad. The size of the gap is unknown.

The registries also differ in what they capture. Some record clinical outcomes, others mainly the device.⁴⁸ Coverage depends on consent in some and on surgeons' compliance in others.²⁷

Registries are only as good as the details given to the patient. The PIP lesson was about records the patient could not obtain later.¹⁰

What to keep before you leave the clinic

Ask for the implant's manufacturer, model, size and serial or lot number, in writing. If the manufacturer supplies a patient implant card, ask for it. Take both home.

Ask the clinic whether the device was recorded in Türkiye's tracking system and under which identity number. Keep that with the card.

Back home, give the details to your family doctor so they are in your records. If your country's registry accepts later entries, for example when you have a revision there, make sure the original implant is recorded.

Footnotes

1. https://standards.nhs.uk/published-standards/breast-and-cosmetic-implant-registry — NHS England, Data standards, "Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry" (effective Oct 10, 2016). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. https://baaps.org.uk/media/press_releases/1664/joint_statement_onenglandsbreast_and_cosmetic_implant_registry — British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, "Joint statement on England's Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry" (published Nov 16, 2018, updated Mar 27, 2019). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. https://bapras.org.uk/media-government/media-resources/press-releases/20-000-operations-recorded-on-england-s-breast-and-cosmetic-implant-registry — British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, "20,000 operations recorded on England's Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry". Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩²

4. https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/the-new-opt-out-dutch-national-breast-implant-registry-lessons-le/ — Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, "The new opt-out Dutch National Breast Implant Registry – Lessons learnt from the road to implementation" (published Oct 2017), via Maastricht University. Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. https://drgavinsandercoe.com.au/breast/the-breast-implant-registry/ — Dr Gavin Sandercoe, plastic surgeon, "The Breast Implant Registry", on the Australian Breast Device Registry. Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/implantateregister-deutschland — Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Federal Ministry of Health), "Implantateregister Deutschland". Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. https://plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/publications/psn-extra/news/after-years-in-the-making-nbir-launches-at-annual-meeting — American Society of Plastic Surgeons, "After years in the making, NBIR launches at annual meeting" (published 2018). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. https://www.titck.gov.tr/faaliyetalanlari/tibbicihaz/urun-takip-sistemi-uts — Türkiye İlaç ve Tıbbi Cihaz Kurumu (Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency), "Ürün Takip Sistemi (ÜTS)". Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

9. https://www.medexmedikal.com/post/uts-tekil-hareket-bildirimleri — Medex Medikal, "ÜTS Tekil Hareket Bildirimleri 2026", a regulatory consultancy's guide (updated Sep 2026). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

10. https://baaps.org.uk/media/press_releases/1324/cosmetic_surgery_tourists_in_breast_implant_risk — British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, "Cosmetic surgery tourists in breast implant risk" (published Feb 24, 2011). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

11. https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/education-and-resources/publications/psn-extra/news/allergan-announces-worldwide-recall-of-biocell-textured-implants — American Society of Plastic Surgeons, "Allergan announces worldwide recall of Biocell textured implants" (published Jul 24, 2019). Accessed Oct 3, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

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