Plastic surgeons have called for greater awareness of the risks of liposuction procedures, after a 45-year-old woman developed a life-threatening collapsed lung as a result of the operation.
The patient underwent surgery last year to remove fat from her abdomen and back, and transfer some of it to her buttocks, to achieve a “fuller” appearance.
However, within 24 hours of the procedure, the woman began experiencing chest pain, extremely rapid breathing, and a dangerously fast heart rate.
Scans showed that his left lung had completely collapsed, meaning air had escaped from the lung, filling the outer space and ruining his ability to breathe oxygen.
Doctors treating the patient at Aseer Central Hospital in Saudi Arabia said the exact cause of the problem is unknown, but it is possible that the lung was punctured by instruments used inside the upper body during fat extraction.
Scans showed that his left lung had completely collapsed, meaning air had escaped from the lung, filling the outer space and ruining his ability to breathe oxygen.
Doctors suggested that the patient’s lung may have been punctured by the cannula used during fat extraction.
Also shown is a chest x-ray of a patient with a large pneumothorax with almost complete collapse of the right lung (yellow arrow), a lung blister, a small accumulation of air between the lung and the outer surface of the lung (red arrow) (stock image )
A collapsed lung, medically known as a pneumothorax, is a known risk of liposuction surgery that disrupts the tissue of the upper abdomen.
However, the problem can occur “spontaneously”, for no obvious reason.
Commenting on the case, the doctors urged other doctors to “raise awareness” about this danger and “involve more regulations,” adding that the mortality rate from liposuction procedures is higher than that from car accidents.
Between 19 and 20 people per 100,000 die from liposuction procedures, compared to the reported death rate of 16 deaths from traffic accidents.
“Complications are underestimated and underreported,” they wrote in the Journal of Medical case reports.
Liposuction is when fat is suctioned from parts of the body, including the stomach, hips, thighs, buttocks, arms or neck.
It can be done under local anesthesia.
Typically, a surgeon will inject a saline solution into the fatty area to break down the fat, before suctioning it out using a cannula attached to a vacuum cleaner.
In addition to the risk of lung collapse, there are other serious risks associated with liposuction procedures.
These include serious infections, fluid buildup that may need to be drained with a needle, uneven texture under the skin, and a life-threatening fat embolism, when chunks of fat can break off and become trapped in a blood vessel and then build up. in the lungs or travel to the brain.
In the most recent case, documented in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, the woman was treated urgently to prevent the problem from causing fatal complications.
While under general anesthesia, a plastic tube was inserted into his lung to drain excess air.
The patient said her symptoms improved immediately and doctors noted that her vital signs, such as blood pressure and heart rate, returned to a normal range.
He started walking again and did so.Regular breathing exercises and coughing exercises to help with chest expansion.
Three days later, the air leak stopped and the chest tube was removed. The patient had a relatively uneventful recovery with no other complications.
Doctors said they recommended including a collapsed lung as a potential complication when obtaining informed consent from patients before liposuction.
About 1.2 million Americans travel to Mexico each year in search of affordable health care, according to Mexico Medical Tourism.
There are no official estimates on how many people visit the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery each year, but it is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean, receiving around 2.5 million visitors from the United States alone each year.
Americans were warned earlier this year not to travel to the Dominican Republic for cut-price plastic surgery, amid a rise in deaths in the country linked to botched operations.
Researchers in New York found that nearly 100 Americans have died in the country over the past decade from procedures such as liposuction, often within three days of the operation.