Breast Lift Risks and Complications

The most common complications of a breast lift are wound healing problems, unattractive scarring, and nipple or breast asymmetry. While usually associated with patients who have undergone an inverted-T mastopexy or augmentation-mastopexy, these wounds and minor imperfections can usually be treated in the office or revised in a clinic setting.

Other less common problems associated with breast lift surgery are hematoma (i.e. collections of blood underneath the skin of the breast), infection, and loss of the nipple-areolar complex. While thankfully less common, these problems often necessitate a return trip to the operation room for thorough treatment and revision. Dr. Perez examines all of his patients within one to two days after surgery so that in the rare chance there is a complication, it can be diagnosed and addressed appropriately.

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 ptosis, 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 very rare.

I hope this helps.

The risks really depend on the extent of the procedure which can vary and include:

crescent (periareolar)
donut (circumareolar)
lollipop or tennis racket (circumvertical or vertical)
Anchor or Inverted T ( Wise. Lexer or vertical/horizontal)

Furthermore, many mastopexy procedures benefit from the use of an implant which may add additional risks.
There are risks to crossing the street or flying in an airplane and, of course, there are risks to any surgical procedure. These risks can occur regardless of surgeon or technique. These include but are not limited to: infection, hematoma, discomfort, wound breakdown, hypertrophic scar formation, asymmetry, unfavorable healing, implant infection exposure, rupture, deflation, palpability, visibility, distortion with muscular contraction, capsular contracture, interference with mammography or surgical evaluation of breast masses, interference with nipple sensation with nursing and aging, need for secondary surgical revisions, and inabiltity to guarantee a specific cosmetic result. Although many other claims of diseases associated with silicone breast implants have been reported these have not been substantiated by major studies.