Expert Opinion: Is Cosmetic Surgery Safe?
For Cosmetic Surgeon in Kolkata it is time to reflect, ruminate, review, and retrospect on our quest for rejuvenation. Are we heading in the right direction? Or are our patients paying the price for being too aggressive and too ambitious to achieve perfection? Are our techniques risk-free or can they be better?
Is it safe?
While undergoing surgery of any type can make people feel apprehensive about their safety. Although plastic surgery has proven to be exceedingly safe, no medical procedure is without risks. This is true both during the surgery and the recovery time afterward. Before scheduling elective surgery, you should review the qualifications of the physician performing it.
Cosmetic surgery risk analysis
The trend in aesthetics is clearly toward minimally invasive surgeries and techniques as can be seen from the statistics. Cosmetic Surgeon in Kolkata procedures showed an average decline of 12% from 2000 to 2014 as compared to minimally invasive procedures, which showed a dramatic rise of 154% in the same period. The top five minimally invasive cosmetic procedures performed were botulin toxin injection, soft tissue fillers, chemical peels, laser hair removal, and microdermabrasion. However, with the rise in numbers and longer follow-up periods, we are more frequently seeing complications, particularly with soft tissue fillers.
- Long-term adverse events such as persistent granulomas and infections are being reported. These may be due to laxity in aseptic procedures or the formation of biofilms.
- In this issue, Haneke reviews the complications with soft tissue fillers and cautions against taking fillers lightly.
- Adverse events with fillers cannot only be persistent but can also lead to serious complications such as permanent blindness.
- Blindness can occur due to inadvertent arterial injection or if it is injected forcefully.
- The trend is now to use cannulas instead of sharp needles which can make injecting safer.
Cosmetic surgery facts
It is reviewed the complications associated with a medial thigh lift, a procedure undertaken to rejuvenate the medial thigh after massive weight loss or as part of the aging process.
In a literature review of overall 447 patients treated surgically by various methods, complications were observed in 191 (42.72%) patients; that is very common indeed.
Most authors report their best results, which are published while there are limited publications highlighting adverse events and complications.
This gives a false erroneous impression that most cosmetic procedures are safe with few or minor complications.
Even a simple procedure such as a skin biopsy may lead to complications, if not performed meticulously.
Kumar highlights the adverse events, which can occur in skin biopsies.
There is no minor procedure or minor surgery if there is a complication! Though generally safe, complications can occur even in the best of hands.
Hematoma and bruises, seroma formation, nerve damage causing sensory or motor loss, infection, scarring, blood loss, and complications of anesthesia can occur in any surgery. More serious complications such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism can cause death.
It is essential to minimize risks by careful patient selection by taking a detailed history and examination. Chronic smokers, immune-compromised patients, and patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are at particular risk.
Potential Surgical and Post-Surgical Complications
Some people have a serious reaction to sedation or anesthesia, even without any previous history or risk factors. The level of anesthesia or sedation the plastic surgeon uses depends on the degree of invasiveness of the surgery. Complications typically occur with general anesthesia as opposed to local anesthesia or sedation. The use of general anesthesia is common in plastic surgery since it depresses the entire body. Nevertheless, patients should be aware of the following potential complications of anesthesia:
- Blood clots
- Brain damage
- Heart attack
- Irregular heart rhythm
- Malignant hyperthermia
- Nerve damage
- Obstructed airways
- Stroke
- Temporary paralysis
Cosmetic surgery in Kolkata also carries general risks not associated with anesthesia. One of these is necrosis, or skin death, that develops after contracting hematoma or infection. Since this is significantly more common in smokers, patients must be willing to give up smoking to undergo plastic surgery. The dead skin requires removal when necrosis occurs, which can defeat the purpose of plastic surgery. Other potential complications include:
- Asymmetry: This refers to both sides of the surgical site being of equal proportions. Although mild asymmetry is normal, moderate or severe irregularities may require corrective surgery.
- Numbness: This is usually temporary, but in rare cases can result in a permanent loss of sensation.
- Seroma: This term refers to the fluid that can pool under the skin after a breast or abdominal surgery.
Patients may also experience slow healing when they do not heed all of their doctor’s advice. Other factors contributing to slow healing include age, skin type, and health complications that neither the patient nor surgeon could have anticipated.
Conclusion
The incidence of complications is higher when the procedures are performed in salons, spas, and by untrained persons. Most of these are not even reported and swept under the carpet, with patients at the suffering end. The highlighting and analysis of adverse events in the published literature will definitely help in making cosmetic procedures less risky, assist in introducing newer and safer techniques, and force physicians and the industry to introduce game-changing risk-free trends for the future.
If you're looking for a trustworthy, skilled, professional Cosmetic Surgeon in Kolkata to perform your Cosmetic Surgery, pay us a visit at Kaayakalp! We are led by Dr. V S Rathore, who is one of the best in his field. His work speaks for itself, and he has helped thousands of men get the hair they've always wanted!
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