Risk of death from liposuction?

As all liposuction procedures performed are not reported, the true mortality rate from this procedure is possibly much lower than the early reports. Pure tumescent liposuction, (large amounts of dilute local anesthetic injected into the fat)  with an awake patient (no general anesthesia) and avoidance of... more

Many procedures that require anesthesia have some risk of death.  The risk may be very rare or less rare.  The particular figure you are quoting probably never existed even at the height of the rash of deaths associated with liposuction in the 90's.  These coincided with a trend to do... more

 I have been doing liposuction for more than 30 years. We have never had any serious complication. No deaths, embolus,infection, bleeding. As long as the total amount remove is under 5 liters.

Liposuction, indeed, in one study had a mortality of 1 in 5000. This caused a moratorium on liposuction in Florida several years ago. After significant studies confirming the safety of Liposuction when done properly, it was again allowed with certain restrictions. These restrictions included careful patient... more

Liposuction is a very safe procedure.  A study from the early 90's reported this number but it was based on all volumes of liposuction and multiple procedures as well.  If liposuction is done in a controlled setting with less than 5 liters in the appropriate patient, then it is very safe. 

Any procedure has risks. However, plastic surgery procedures in general are very safe when done by board certified plastic surgeons in appropriately accredited facilities. Liposuction is one of the most safe procedures as long as not more than 5 liters is removed, done by the right surgeon in the right... more

A lttle history: when lipo was first introduced about 30 years ago, it was done without any tumescent type of infusion and so only small volumes could be done without too much blood loss. By adding infusion (whether wide awake, with sedation, or under general) the blood loss is much less and so larger volumes... more

Hi! Nothing is 100% safe. One can get killed crossing the street. But, if 3 requirements are met, liposuction is probably the safest cosmetic surgery operation.  The 3 requirements are: 1)  experienced plastic surgeon. 2)  healthy patient. 3)  Not removing more than 5000 cc's ... more

That number is from a review article in plastic surgery from liposuctioning in the 1990's. I have to assume that the number is even smaller now. Liposuctioning is one of the most common procedures performed by plastic surgeons and they are not the only ones performing liposuctiong. You can even find family... more

We have no hard and fixed numbers on this because all cases of liposuction are not recorded. Liposuction is performed by many specialties including family practitioners, general surgeons, otolaryngologists, gynecologists, dermatologists, and plastic surgeons. It is very difficult to gather data from this... more