New Study Suggests Obesity Tied to Risk of Complications After Plastic Surgery

Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Risks Increased for Obese Patients

People who are struggling with weight loss, who may be considered obese have upwards of 35 percent chance to experience complications after a plastic surgery procedure as normal-weight patients. Many times people who are obese are admitted back into the hospital within thirty days after the operation. This highlights the vital need to be informing obese patients about the increased risks they face when having surgical procedures.

It’s very important that the surgeon educate his patients about the risk they face or potential complications before undergoing any procedure. Plastic Surgeons should be responsible for managing the health conditions the patient has presently so not endanger them when doing a new procedure. This is important for the patients to know because some insurance companies are known to not cover additional procedures that may arise because of complications.

Researchers led by Michelle Sieffert, a physician , of Wright State U had taken the time to examine the patient data of over 48,000 adults who had elective surgery. The procedures that were studied ran the gamut from tummy tucks, eyelid surgery, liposuction to breast augmentation and the conclusion was pointing to the fact there seemed to a correlation with complications and obesity.

About 4 % of the patients were categorized as obese. It was also noticed based on the provided data that these patients had higher rates of other chronic diseases related to their weight. The patients weight also figured into the type of conditions they had and they included heart disease, high blood pressure and even mental health problems.

The new study determined that over 7 percent of patients with severe weight problems had emergency room visits within 30 days of the procedure as compared to about 4 percent of the patients deemed to be normal-weight.

It was also found that patients with three or more health issues who had Abdomioplasty had the highest rate of visits to the hospital. On another note 3.2 percent of the patients developed complications within 30 days after their procedure compared to 0.9 percent of those who were not considered obese. The patients who experienced these complications also experienced increased health costs to the tune of $3,900 after liposuction, $7,000 after a abdomioplasty and $7,400 higher after a breast reduction surgery.

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