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

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)

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.

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.