How often do bad things happen with deep plane face lifts?

Question

I don't know many people who have done plastic surgery. One woman i know did research and went to ashville! 1. How crazy is it to travel to a new state? 2. Operating in the surgeons office not hospital- but hospital nearby. 3. How often do horrible things happen with face lifts? I am scared! (This one surgeon has 500 positive reviews)

Maribel Belmontes Castillo, MD · Answer

All procedures must be performed in the operating room and not in the office for patient safety. It is not so easy to travel from other states. I am in Guadalajara Mexico and I have many patients who, traveling from the USA, spend 10 days in Mexico and return without problems. Complications can always be present, so you should seek an expert doctor on the subject.

Jacob Tower, MD · Answer

Hello, hope you are well. It's not crazy at all to travel out-of-state for surgery. Patients travel from around the world seeking the best, and offices like ours are set up to facilitate this experience. Not only for deep plane facelift surgery, but for other procedures where expertise is rare as well. I have previously worked in a hospital-based practice and now I have a private practice with it's own OR facility. Just like hospitals, private surgery centers have extremely rigorous safety standards, must be accredited (e.g. Quad A certified), and so on. Your surgeon should also have admitting and operating privileges at a nearby hospital. "Horrible things" are relative--I don't know exactly what you mean by that--but significant complications are quite rare. Patients are required to have medical clearance prior to surgery to ensure risk is managed appropriately. Facelifts in general have potential risks associated (hematoma, seroma, wound complications, neuropraxia for example), but the overall occurrence is low and these issues rarely cause long-term issues. Obviously, you will want to have a more nuanced discussion with your surgeon so your specific concerns can be addressed.
Best, Dr. Tower

Brian M. Harmych, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for sharing your questions.  These days, many patient's travel to those of us who performed true deep plane facelift surgery. There just isn't that many of us out there.  Therefore, many of us have practices that deal with a large number of patients that travel, especially for deep plane facelift. Significant complications are still very rare.  Think in the order of 1-2%.  For this reason, we recommend that all traveling patient's stay local for approximately 10 days.  At this point, it is highly unlikely that any severe complication or problems arise.  We still ask patients to return for postoperative visits at approximately 3 and 6 months.  Any patient's experiencing problems or questions during this time would be able to have a virtual visit.

Andrew Miller, MD · Answer

If the surgeon has significant experience and you are a good surgical candidate, then the chance of something bad happening is very small. The risk is never zero, but that is also true of everything you do in life. You just have to decide if the risk to benefit ratio is good enough for you. I would say that most facelifts are done in private surgery centers - If the surgery center is accredited and Medicare certified, then it meets proper safety standards.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

Deep plane facelifts have a higher incidence of facial nerve paralysis, therefore we only perform a high-SMAS lower face and neck lift. In our practice for over 30 years, we have never had a permanent facial nerve paralysis. We also have many patients in flying in from out of state to undergo elective cosmetic facial surgery. Study your prospective surgeon's facelift photo Gallery make sure that it is extensive with very natural results

David M. Kowalczyk, MD, MBA, FACS · Answer

Hello! I would say that if performed well and a decently high volume, the likelihood of bad things in deep plan facelifts happening is low. It isn't crazy to travel to another state. Some patients don't have options nearby or prefer a certain surgeon based on reviews, referral, or results. Operating in-office via a surgical suite does occur fairly often. Anesthesia can be brought in and the equipment can be tailored accordingly. Horrible things, such as facial nerve paralysis or skin loss, are very, very rare. Hope that helps!

How often do bad things happen with deep plane face lifts?

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