Are Blood Clots and Seroma Common Liposuction Complications?

This is an excellent question -- you ask about one of the rarest complications of liposuction (blood clots) and one of the more common ones (seroma), according to the literature. What does that mean? I think it varies from individual to individual, but I have personally never seen a seroma in my liposuction practice in Santa Barbara. I usually encourage my patients to wear a conforming compression garment for 3-4 weeks following the liposuction surgery, and i do not perform large volume liposuction of over 5 liters in my office.

This leads to discussion of the other, more dreaded complication -- blood clots and pulmonary em bolus (PE) where the blood clot travels to the lung. I have never seen this complication from surgery in my center either, and this is a rare event following safe amounts of liposuction alone. It is more commonly seen with large volumes of liposuction and combining liposuction with other procedures, particularly abdominoplasty.

I would not fear the complications that you ask about if you are seeking liposuction. I would recommend, however, that you see a real plastic surgeon who is certified by the American Board Of Plastic Surgery, and who you feel will do a safe, conservative operation. Don't be fooled by the multitudes of non-plastic surgeons who do liposuction in their office -- you want to be in a safe environment with a well trained professional, and your risks of problems should be quite low.

DVT with PE (clots) is one of the most dreaded complications following liposuction. Fortunately, it is relatively rare. Unfortunately the incidence is not known due to difficulty calculating the number of procedures performed. We have had studies that show a wide variation in the incidence of DVT with PE following liposuction AND abdominoplasty that ranges from 1 in 3,500 to 1 in 40,000. The incidence with liposuction alone certainly should be less than that. In any unique situation, the physician must assess the risk factors that are specific to that patient.
The risk of seroma may be related to the technique and it is generally believed that the incidence is higher following the use of ultrasonic assisted lipoplasty. I am not sure of the incidence following laser assisted lipoplasty.