The safety of plastic surgery procedures performed in outpatient settings

A study including data from more than 26,000 cases over 20 years confirms the high safety of plastic surgery procedures performed on an outpatient basis.

All procedures were carried out by board-certified plastic surgeons in fully equipped ambulatory surgical centres. The study was published in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, one of the most prestigious journals in the field and the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Patients monitored ranged across all ages and clinical conditions. The results show that “For the majority of patients, the overall risk of undergoing plastic surgery in an outpatient setting is very low,” write Rod J. Rohrich, MD, and colleagues from the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute.

“It is always essential to take the right precautions to optimise patient safety, whether young or old, in order to minimise possible complications.”

The study focused on complications within the first 48 hours after surgery: these occurred in less than 1% of patients (0.98) and were generally minor and easily resolved.

More than 80% of these complications involved the formation of blood collections (hematomas), which in some cases required additional treatment.

Patients undergoing combined procedures showed a higher incidence of complications. Other risk factors were found among very obese patients, those with higher body mass index, or those who underwent removal of larger volumes of fat, leading to longer operating times.