Fear of dying in liposuction surgery

It is always important to ask your surgeon of severe and minor possible complications, and death obviously is one of them, but soooo unlikely that it is rarely discussed. The likelyhood of death with a board certified surgeon and a board certified anesthesiologist, is less than you dying in a car accident.

Liposuction is a very safe procedure.

I will go as far as saying it's a bizarrely safe procedure when done by someone who has good manual dexterity, clinical judgment and proper medical training.



My practice is devoted exclusively to liposuction and fat transfer procedures.



In the last six years I have performed over 3000 liposuction procedures.



Of these I've only had one major complication.



The patient had an infection and requiring hospitalization for six days. She had a small incision approximately 2 inches to drain infected fluid and eventually had a good outcome other than the 2 inch scar.



Fatal complications from liposuction are generally related to accidental puncture of internal organs such as the bowels, lungs or heart.



Of these bow perforations are probably the most common.



They love comes from mild perforations are often related to delayed diagnosis.



In other words if the plastic surgeon recognizes the complication early the patients can be treated accordingly.



Pushing a liposuction cannula into the abdomen or chest is in my opinion something that would only happen if someone does not have good dexterity or experience



Other serious complications include infections and fat embolism's.



The overall infection rate from liposuction is very very low.



Lower than many other surgical procedures.



I finished medical school in 1994.



I've seen one fatality from cosmetic surgery(not my patient).



I'm 53 years old and I personally know for people who've died in car accidents.



I have had many many many more patients than I do personal friends or acquaintances.



I would say driving home on New Year's eve would be significantly more dangerous than having liposuction.



In regards to having abdominal etching please make sure your doctor has performed many of these procedures first.



It's a procedure that is very patient specific on who will get good results and who will be disfigured.



Bad outcomes from liposuction are a real issue and can cause devastation, Though obviously very different than a medical complication.



There are few guarantees in life.



It sounds like you've done your homework and while no one can guarantee A perfect outcome it is highly unlikely he you'll have a serious complication from this procedure.Most patients have some anxiety before any medical procedure.

Yours sounds a little bit more extreme.

It's possible you may have an underlying anxiety disorder or particular fear of medical procedures.

Some doctors will prescribe anti anxiety medication's selectively for patients to use before the procedure to help quell some of the pre-procedure anxiety.

You could ask your surgeon if he or she would be willing to give you a limited amount of anti-anxiety medication.





Best,



Mats Hagstrom M.D.