What are the risks and complications associated with liposuction?
I spend a large amount of time talking to patients about the risks of liposuction, because the media has really made death from liposuction one of their more interesting topics. These are very high profile deaths that have taken place throughout this country. In general, if a patient is having liposuction preformed by a board certified general surgeon, in a safe environment – that’s either a hospital surgeon center or a credentialed office – liposuction should be safe and effective, and the risks from liposuction itself are rather minimal. Some of the other concerns have been about liposuction patients who had significant amounts of fat that were removed in an office setting, and had complications without being noticed. For plastic surgery the requirements are that for any patent having over five liters of fat removed, liposuction should be done in a hospital.
