How Likely Will Potentially Deadly Risks from Rhinoplasty Occur?

Hi Tiger Fan,
Are those the LSU or Auburn Tigers? I think I know Coach Miles.
The risks that you are concerned with are miniscule. In today's litigious and greedy society it is necessary to cover all of the possible untoward events that may occur when undergoing any type of procedure. There have been incidents where a surgery is cancelled for one reason or another, the patient is at home at the time of the scheduled surgery, and suffers a coincidental fatal heart attack. Fortunately the benefits of your rhinoplasty surgery will far outweigh the very remote risk of the complications that concern you on your informed consent.
As surgeons we wish that we could give every patient a 100% guarantee, but for the complications that you are concerned about, it's just under 100%, in the 99% range. The only thing that surgeons can guarantee is that they will show up for your surgery, and even that is not 100% as I had a colleague who suffered chest pain on his way to the operating, and had a small myocardial infarction himself.
If you are in the hands of a competent, well trained surgeon, you minimize your risks to the point where you need not worry about them. As comedian George Burns answered his heart surgeon just before his bypass to the question, "Mr. Burns, you look so relaxed for someone about to undergo surgery, are you worried?"...."No sir, I'm going to be asleep, you're the one who should be worried"
Be well and enjoy your new nose.
Dr. P

The risk of complications and death following rhinoplasty surgery is extremely low.  This is especially true if the procedure is performed in a fully accredited certified outpatient surgery facility with an anesthesiologist in attendance.  The safety margin is even better when the procedure is performed by a board certified plastic surgeon.  

I have successfully performed hundreds of rhinoplasty surgeries throughout my career, and, luckily, have not encountered a single instance when a risk of death was present. Still, it is important to be in good overall health before committing to a rhinoplasty. Any health issues that are hereditary should be clearly translated to your doctor. If you are concerned primarily after signing off on the list of complications that you mentioned, this is a common practice that many physicians require of their patients before operating and should not be a reason for worry. 

The consent process involves detailed consents discussing many risks of the procedure, some of which have never occurred.  Overall, rhinoplasty is considered a safe operation with the main challenges being in creating a natural and harmonious functional nose.  Death is extremely uncommon.

Tigerfar,
There is no increased risk of death with rhinoplasty. It sounds like the consent you signed is just trying to cover them for every possiblity - no matter how small. Kind of like when you see a commercial for a new medication and they list all these crazy "possible side effect." Just make sure you are in competent hands. Good luck with your surgery.

The most common risks of rhinoplasty include residual defect, incomplete correction, asymmetry and the need for additional operations.
More remote risks include wound healing problems, bleeding
Even more remote risks include infection (sepsis, meningitis)
The risk of TSS comes from the packing. Extremely unusual.
Meningitis would require a tear in the layer protecting your brain and an undrained infection. Both very unusual.
It sounds like your surgeon is being complete which is fantastic. You should direct these questions to her or him as each provider's PERSONAL complication rate with the procedure being performed is critical.
I hope this helps!

In more than 30 years we have never had any serious complication! You probably have more risk driving to his office than you do with the surgery.

Anesthesia risks today are extremely minimal if the patient has a board-certified physician anesthesiologist in attendance while under anesthesia. Other risks such as toxic shock syndrome no longer exist as packing should no longer be placed inside the nose. Meningitis is an extremely rare complication after rhinoplasty.

Risks of surgery are listed and discussed with all patients. Some are more common than others, but yet they all should be discussed especially the more common ones. Even those are not very common. Meningitis is extremely rare and toxic shock is slightly more common. More likely if anything bad is going to happen it would be one of the more common things like asymmetry, irregularities, possibly even bleeding, to name a few.

Every surgical procedure, no matter how minor, involves a certain degree of risk. This is why you must make an educated decision. You must decide if the risks are worth the benefits. Surgery itself is an extremely controlled environment. You will be monitored during the procedure. Your blood pressure, pulse, degree of oxygen in your blood are all routinely and continuously checked. It is important that your anesthesiologist has experience in this type of nasal surgery. After reviewing your history and examining you, he will need to make decisions about the best type of anesthesia for you as well as the best way to control your airway. During a rhinoplasty, blood can drip down the back of the throat and he must keep this from entering your airway.
As a plastic surgeon, we never want anything to go wrong. Each patient requires careful and thorough evaluation and consideration. Many of the procedures that we perform are not 'necessary' but desired. We need to be on a higher level of caution, seeking out any variables that would adversely effect the patient's outcome. It makes little since to take needed chances. Some risk are always unavoidable such as bleeding and infection. These can be, at least partially controlled with careful technique and skin preparation. The management of risk also involves patient participation. Avoiding smoking, staying off aspirin and aspirin containing products will be a benefit. Get your questions answered prior to surgery. If there are concerns about any item on the consent form write them down and be sure to discuss them with the surgeon prior to the procedure.