How much risk am I facing for death or a fat embolism for abdominal liposuction following 6 months post op tummy tuck?

I  do not know the percentage for fat embolism. however sadly I must disagree with my colleague. there was a well publicized death in Philadelphia of a young girl who died from a fat embolism after lipo of the neck. I quote to my patients a 3-4 % risk  of thromboembolic event after abdominoplasty.  about half of them get pulmonary emboli and about half of them die.  because of these statistics I am quite aggressive with anticoagulation post op.

Complications like death or fat embolism are uncommon after liposuction.   Risks vary depending on the person and the exact procedure being performed so I would recommend arranging an in-person consultation with a plastic surgeon to discuss the risks, healing time and expected outcomes.

Assuming you did well with your tummy tuck and you have no personal or family history of blood clots, you should be at very low risk for death or fat embolism.  Fat embolism does not occur after liposuction but has been known to happen with fat transfer (liposuction with re-injection such as a Brazilian butt lift).  You should be fine to proceed.  Best of luck!

Your question is a good one.  The answer depends quite a bit on you and your own personal risk factors - as well as the procedure and type of anesthesia planned.  This is a very "hot topic" amongst us plastic surgeons.  In general the risk is quite low, but we certainly want to protect everyone.  Therefore, we have some guidelines for thinning patients blood depending on what their risk is.Talk to your surgeon about this topic and I'm sure you will get some good information.Good Luck!

Liposuction is a relatively low risk procedure from either a fat embolism or a blood clot.  The relative risk of a blood clot in the leg and/or lung is about 0.8 percent for liposuction (vs. 1.2% risk with tummy tuck).  Three are many things you can do to minimize this risk, including scoring your prior medical and family history for risk factors and scoring, using SCD'd (Calf Squeezers) and/or Lovenox (Blood Thinners) to decrease the risks.  Regarding fat embolism, I use the VASER which is an advanced liposuction device, that minimizes connective tissue and blood vessels damage, thus reducing the risk of a fat embolism.  to my knowledge there have been no fat embolisms reported with the use of the VASER in its over 14 years of use and millions of cases performed.