Source – http://www.islandernews.com/
Dr. Kelly: I want to use my time off from work to get some cosmetic surgery done. I saw a surgeon who said he could do a breast lift with implants at the same time as an abdominoplasty and liposuction of the back, hips, and thighs. He said the surgery will take about 8 hours. Do you think it is a good idea to do that much surgery in one setting? I really want to do it all at once.
Response. I would definitely NOT recommend doing all of that surgery at one time. The primary reason is that the risks of complications are greatly increased once surgery lasts longer than 6 hours. One study showed that the risks of pneumonia, heart problems and fever increase 18-36% for each hour of surgery over 6 hours.
In addition, an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) has an inherently higher risk for DVT and PE (blood clots to legs and lungs) than other cosmetic surgery procedures. This is because the abdominal muscle tightening that occurs during the procedure initially slows the return of blood from the legs after surgery and that slowing of blood flow raises the risk of a clot forming.
In my practice, we do the following to make surgery safer: 1. When I do an abdominoplasty, it takes me about two hours to do the surgery and I don’t combine it with other procedures. 2. When I do combine procedures other than abdominoplasty, I aim to complete the operation within 4 hours and never go over six hours. 3.
We screen patients for their risk of DVT and treat patients with blood thinners after surgery if they are at increased risk.
The safe way to do multiple procedures is to break them up and do them separately. I usually ask patients to wait 6 weeks between procedures to reduce the risks of complications. While cosmetic surgery is important, and truly helps patients feel better about themselves; it is still elective surgery that doesn’t have to be done.
Given that perspective, both surgeons and patients should strive to make sure that it is done as safely as possible.
About Dr. Kelly
Dr. Kelly is a board-certified Plastic Surgeon and partner in both Miami Plastic Surgery and MPS MedSpa. He has been in practice over 25 years and has been recognized by his peers both nationally and internationally as one of the best plastic surgeons in the United States.
In addition to being an expert on Cosmetic Surgery, his practice encompasses the entire spectrum of non-invasive treatments such as Botox, fillers, CoolSculpting, ultrasound, lasers and radiofrequency.
He also believes in giving back to our community, having served on the Village Council for eight years and volunteering as a coach for our youth sports programs. You can email him questions at mkelly@miamiplasticsurgery.com.