Plastic Surgery Risks And Complications
What are the risks associated with plastic surgery?
There are risks involved in any surgery, usually involving anesthesia or medications. In terms of the risks of plastic surgery, it really depends on the operation performed. For cosmetic surgery, most patients are concerned about scarring. As plastic surgeons, we obviously try to keep the scars to a minimum.
What is "flap necrosis"?
When we talk about reconstructive surgery, we are often doing a flap or rotating tissue to cover a defect in part of the body, whether it's the head and neck, face, or trunk areas. If part of the flap doesn't survive, because it depends on its blood supply, it can die. This is what in medical terms is called flap necrosis. A small part of flap necrosis is acceptable, be we as plastic surgeons don't want the entire flap to necrose, or die.
What is a "seroma"?
A seroma is a collection of bodily fluid, not really water and not really blood, that can collect in an area of the body after plastic surgery, or any surgery. Your plastic surgeon may choose to put a needle in a seroma to try and drain it, because many times the seroma fluid will not drain by itself.
What is "tissue necrosis"?
Tissue necrosis is a fancy term for tissue dying. With any plastic surgery, depending on the areas involved, there's always the potential for either skin or soft tissue, or even muscle, not to survive. Concerns for tissue necrosis are when there's a cancer that's being removed or when there's some tissue or vital structures that need to be covered. That's when tissue necrosis is of concern to plastic surgeons.
What is a "capsular contracture"?
Capsular contracture is a medical condition where your own body forms a reaction, or a “capsule”, to a foreign body such as a breast implant or other implants. We as plastic surgeons try to limit capsular contracture or any reaction to a foreign material that's placed into the body.
