What's the Approximate Death Rate for Women from Complications After Breast Augmentation?

Unless you have serious medical problems and health issues going on unrelated to your breasts the risk of dying is extremely unusual to the point of being rare, about the same probability of dying from a car accident. Breast Reduction is an extremely safe operation when performed by a board certified plastic surgeon.

This patient died from malignant hyperthermia, a complication of a traditional general endotracheal anesthetic.  It may be avoided with a total intravenous anesthetic.  In my practice, this is the only way we perform cosmetic surgery, so that this rare but potentially fatal complication is eliminated as a risk.  It's a good question.  Medical personnel understand that a safe anesthetic is as important as choosing the right surgeon.  So you are well advised to go to a surgeon who uses total IV anesthesia.

Any elective surgery has a death rate somewhere in the 1 in 10 000 area and that would be more from the anesthesia than any impact of the implants themselves

Breast augmentation surgery done with intravenous sedation is a very safe procedure. This anesthesia technique avoids the complications (although exceedingly rare) of a general anesthetic, such as malignant hyperthermia.

Thanks for your question.  This is a question that concerns patients because it is elective surgery and they think more about it.  When cosmetic surgery is performed by a board certified plastic surgeon, complication of death is a rarity.  With any surgery, there can be a risk but if the patient is healthy, has a board certified surgeon and follows the pre and post operative instructions, the outcome should be one of happiness in the physical change provided.  

thanks for your question. Please try not to get overhyped by the hype of sensational stories. While I would never want to minimize the sadness associated with any patient death, the risk of death with any cosmetic surgery is extremely small. Over 300,000 breast augmentation procedures are performed yearly with no fatalities. I urge you to meet with a board certified plastic surgeon for a thorough evaluations and discussion of your risk.

Thank you for the question.  To be fairly clear, each surgery poses their own threats of complications and possible death after the procedure.  It is highly unlikely though that patients experience fatal complications after breast augmentation since the chances are really slim.  This is why it is important to relay everything to your surgeon so that he or she can be able to prepare the right post operation procedure and medication for you.  Best of luck.  Dr. Michael Omidi

One question that plastic surgeons are asked is  "What are my chances of dying from cosmetic surgery ?" In our day-to day practice as plastic surgeons, it is extremely rare to even hear about such a terrible complication either in the surrounding community or even in the nation as a whole. To put a number on the odds is difficult, but the numbers I have seen range from 1 in 57,000 to 1:200,00 surgeries. Lets take the highest odds of 1:57,000. Even that number seems quite high to me. However, using that number as a starting point, the risk of dying from pregnancy, that is, from the moment of conception to the moment that the child is delivered, also happens to also be around 1 in 57,000. You are 510 times more likely to die from being involved in an automobile accident, and 78 times more likely to die as a pedestrian struck by a moving vehicle than dying after cosmetic surgery. What activities carry lower risk of dying than from elective cosmetic surgery? You are two times less likely to die from being bitten by a dog, and 3 times times less likely to die from a lightening strike than from cosmetic surgery. The bottom line is that cosmetic surgery is ALWAYS offered to those in the lowest risk categories or the healthiest patients, that is the people who have no significant risk factors. This selection makes the chances of a patient having a life threatening complication after plastic surgery extremely rare. I hope that puts the odds in better perspective for you and many other people that may potentially read this because they have the same concern as you.  (SOURCE: National Safety Council:Injury Facts 2014)

Thank you for the question.Some of the risks/potential complications associated with breast reduction surgery include:  infection, bleeding, seroma, hematoma, wound healing problems, abnormal scarring ( hypertrophic or keloid),  loss of sensation, inability to breast-feed, breast asymmetry, necrosis of tissue or skin,  unsatisfactory cosmetic results, unpredictability of exact cup size postoperatively,  recurrence of the breast hypertrophy, and the potential for further surgery.  other risks  related to surgery in general include deep venous thrombosis (clots),  pulmonary embolism, pneumonia  and even death.Fortunately, the majority of patients who undergo this procedure by well experienced board-certified plastic surgeons and board certified anesthesiologists do very well and complications tend  to be relatively minor and treatable. The severe complications are rare.I hope this helps.

Death after cosmetic surgery is an extremely rare event - which is why you heard about this case in the news. Last year over 300,000 breast augmentations were performed and I am not aware of a single death. Fatal complications (such as malignant hyperthermia or pulmonary embolism) are possible with cosmetic surgery, but the risk is infinitesimally small. Minimize your risk by choosing a board certified plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist.