Do you have the risk of fat embolism with liposculpture? (photo)

  Fat embolus has been reported with liposuction alone surgeries.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, California

The risks of liposuction alone are fairly low (including infection, bleeding, seroma). Fat embolus is not a risk which is not commonly associated with liposuction alone. The actual incidence of fat embolus secondary to liposuction is 0.00001%.
Fat embolus is a very serious and known complication of fat transfer (which has been recently spotlighted in the media). While it is true, injection of donor fat into the infra-muscular plane (within the muscle) increases fat viability this does come with a significant increase in risk. There are large vessels deep to and within the muscle which can be inadvertently injected while grafting leading to a fat embolus. The consequences of such a complication are very serious and life threatening.
At the recent American Society of Plastic Surgeons Hot Topics, data from AAAASF (ambulatory surgical certifying body) was presented, suggesting that BBL/gluteal lipoaugmentation demonstrates a dramatically higher risk profile than other surgeries. The Aesthetic Surgery and Educational and Research Fund is convening a task force as well. The hope is that we will have more concrete guidelines for addressing these very serious complications.
That being said, the safest way to avoid fat emboli is to stay in the subcutaneous plane (at the expense of fat viability)and avoid the deeper muscular plane. If grafting of the deep plane is planned, surgeons should consider blunt cannulas, aspiration prior to injection. Using a supra-gluteal approach to minimize the risk of inadvertent intravascular injection has also been proposed.
As always, discuss your concerns with a board certified plastic surgeon (ABPS).

Fat embolism can happen during with liposuction but is extremely rare. It can also happen at higher rates during fat transfer procedures, like Brazilian butt lifts.  Proper technique and judgment are important to prevent these complications. Make sure that your surgeon is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. 

I personally feel that all high volume liposuction cases and Brazilian butt lifts should be performed in a hospital setting. This makes the procedure more expensive, but for these types of procedures safety is paramount and should not be compromised. Your surgeon should be comfortable talking about his/her safety protocols and action plans. Be skeptical of any surgeon who says the surgery is risk free. 

There is always risk in surgery, but reputable surgeons do everything they can to make surgery as safe as possible. Hope this helps.