Rejected for Facelift/Necklift Due to Mild Primary Immune Deficiency. Can I Never Have Surgery?

Hello, and thank you for the excellent question. In general this does not sound like an absolute contraindication to facelift surgery. Every surgeon must weigh the risks and benefits to doing a cosmetic procedure on someone. Some surgeons may feel that your immunodeficiency poses too high of a risk to justify the procedure, but other surgeons may not feel that way. I would suggest obtaining a second consultation by another surgeon.

Great question. A complete review of your medical history and a medical clearance would be necessary to proceed. The answer would partially depend on the type and severity of infections, but I would generally not rule out a patient because of sinus infections.

As you know, people with primary immune deficiency from low IgG levels are at increased risk for infections, mainly respiratory and gastrointestinal. There is not much known about the effect of IgG deficiency and postoperative infections. With facelift/necklift surgery, there is always a risk of infection, such as pneumonia from the breathing tube, GI infections from the antibiotics, and skin infections from the incisions. I would not say that you could never have a facelift/necklift. The surgeon and patient must consider these risks, and both must agree that the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks.