While we all take safety precautions in performing various plastic surgery procedures at our clinic, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reminds people that any surgical procedure carries inherent risk.
They recommend 6 important recommendations when considering plastic surgery, including:
1. Research benefits and risks of any procedure as much as you can before going forward. Check out our resources on plastic surgery or visit the ASPS website for more.
2. Have realistic expectations and fully discuss risks and recovery time with your surgeon beforehand.
3. Talk to other patients who have undergone the procedure to learn of their experiences.
4. Discuss your full medical history with your surgeon before undergoing any procedure.
5. Only choose surgeons accredited by the ASPS. They have a certain level of experience, professionalism and have all proper certifications.
6. If your surgery is taking place at an outpatient center, verify the center’s accreditation
“The death of a patient is always tragic and devastating for all involved, particularly the patient’s family and the medical team,” said Richard D’Amico, MD, ASPS president. “However, we don’t want to unnecessarily frighten the public. While this situation is rare, the decision to have a plastic surgery procedure is serious. No-risk surgery doesn’t exist.”
Plastic surgery procedures are relatively safe, with serious complications only occurring in 1 in 298 or 0.34 percent. Death occurs in 1 in 51,459, or 0.0019 percent of cases according to a 2004 study from the ASPS that evaluated over 400,000 surgeries.
Any death or complication is tragic but these statistics show that despite any of these highly publicized things, death and complications from plastic surgery are very rare.