Really weird question: Could you drink (or IV) a saline breast implant?

Factual Questions
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Warning for those who haven’t seen the movie Thirst (2010, directed by Jeffrey Lando) and may want to: MAJOR spoiler ahead. I am giving away the ending.

In the movie, Noelle, a resourceful medical student, is lost in the desert and dying of dehydration. She realizes that she has accidentally been walking in a circle over the past few days and ends up next to her friend Jennifer’s grave/body (said friend died at the beginning of the movie.)

BUT! All is not lost! Noelle remembers that Jennifer had saline breast implants. Jennifer’s body has been completely picked clean by wolves, so there’s nothing but dried bones left, but she does find an intact bag of saline that is presumably the breast implant. She then somehow uses a few materials (a needle, a tube & a water bottle) to set up an IV and rehydrate herself with the saline.

So my question is, could this actually work? :confused: It seems very doubtful to me, but I don’t know what exactly is in saline breast implants, other than saline, and whether or not it’s safe to consume, or even if they wouldn’t disintegrate in the body after death. Also, if they are “edible”, why does she IV them instead of just drinking them (other than the fact that it looks cooler?) Anyone know? Could it have something to do with the fact that she was so dehydrated and an IV would be safer?

I don’t know, It just seems really implausible to me, though certainly a very creative ending. It’s something that would never occur to me, and I’ve never heard of anything related to it happening anywhere, which also makes me think it can’t be done (but then again, I guess the circumstances “required” for this type of thing to happen are pretty rare!)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. :slight_smile: I know this is a really strange and somewhat disturbing question. I tried to research it but all I could find were details about breast implant surgery. Also, if anyone sees any articles or links about this kind of thing (whether nonfiction, scientific articles or just stories/references from popular culture) I would love to read them. I’m very curious where the author or director got this idea! Thanks all!

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I think the fluid would be drinkable; and the salt content should be low enough not to exacerbate dehydration. I’m not sure why the IV was necessary.

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According to this site (and a few others) the sterile solution in breast implants ‘normal physiological salinity’ - I had trouble looking up the meaning of that term without just coming back round to sites about breast implants, but I think it means something like equivalent salinity to human tissues (which would make sense as there would be no osmotic pressure if part of the implant casing became permeable.