How Do You Know if You Were Injected into an Artery with Radiesse?

I heard you can die from this. How do you avoid injecting into an artery? My doctor injected me in the cheek and it turned white, started pulsating, turned bright red and she seemed to panic. Please let me know how to avoid this.

Tags:

Comment on this

9 Doctor Answers | Asked by Mia in Hawaii

Doctor Answers (9)
Community Comments (0)

How do you know if you inject into an artery?

It sounds like you are describing a vascular event. Blanching, throbbing, change in color such as redness, or turning dark or dusky. Usually followed by increasing pain. If the occlusion is severe there can be tissue damage. To avoid injecting into a vessel, It requires a thorough understanding of the anatomy. There are certain landmarks to avoid, in addition to injection techniques that minimize the risks. Injecting dermal filler should only be done by experienced, well trained... more

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

Skin Death and Blindness from Filler Injections

Skin death and blindness from filler injection is possible. Blunt-tipped cannulae can reduce the risk over needle injection.

Blunt Tipped Micro-Cannulas

Thank you for your question. From your description, it sounds like arterial injection was a possibility. This is a known complication of all injectable fillers. I would recommend you seek treatment from a surgeon experienced in using blunt tipped micro-cannulas for injection and the aspiration technique. These devices and maneuvers can help to reduce the risk of arterial injection and embolizaiton.

Radiesse/Intra-arterial Injection

Intra-arterial injection is a rare but possible complication associated with any filler - hyaluronic acid, Radiesse, fat, etc. It has been associated with devastating consequences, including loss of tissue and blindness. Fortunately, it is extremely rare. The best treatment is, of course, prevention, but even that can not be guaranteed, and even in the best of hands. In general, injecting small amounts at one "push", and injecting while withdrawing, diminishes the... more

Radiesse in Artery

Hi Mia. Regardless of which product is being injected, it's possible to hit a blood vessel. One of the techniques that help avoid this is to inject the product as the needle is being moved backward and outward toward the surface of the skin. By injecting only as the needle is being pulled out, it dramatically reduces the chance of injecting into a blood vessel. A good and experienced injector will be able to recognize immediately when this has happened and use massaging... more

Harold J. Kaplan, MD

4 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.celibre.com

Radiesse injection into an artery

It sounds as if a trace of Radiesse entered anarteriole (White color) and was insignificant enough to be carried away with resultant vasodilatation (Red color). Injecting with a blunt cannula, as opposed to a needle which has a sharp tip, could have avoided this incident. Rarely, the angular artery, underlying the area between the cheek and upper lip, can be obstructed during the injection of a filler. This results in immediate blanching and severe pain,... more

Filler injections into an artery

The easiest way to say this is that you will absolutely know that something is wrong. The area will start to turn black (not like a bruise!), sometimes you can get whitish bumps (like goosebumps) across the area, and you will have intense pain. What happens is that an artery is blocked from the filler and the result is tissue death - and it hurts! Most of the time if you are going to have an arterial block with a filler, it happens around the lip area. You don't have this in your case. But... more

Cannulas and experience improve Radiesse safety

In response to your question regarding how to avoid arterial injections with Radiesse I suggest a couple of things. First, it is important to see a physician with extensive experience injecting all types of filler. Radiesse requires advanced skill because it cannot be reversed like the hyaluronic acid fillers (Restylane, Juvederm); therefore, if an artery is injected, there is no simple fix and skin necrosis and scarring may result. An experienced physician will have a... more

Not consistent with arterial injection

The sequence of events (your observations) is not consistent with arterial injection. He/she may have inadvertently injected a branch of the facial artery (inferior or superior lingual arteries, angular artery). Since you don't have any untoward side effects and no necrosis of the skin (which is rare), then nothing bad seems to have happened. I understand that 'panic' does not inspire confidence in you - get someone else to do your next set of injections.