Risks & Potential Complications

Complications of Surgery in General

Before deciding to proceed with surgery, every patient must thoroughly consider the risks involved, not just the benefits. During your pre-operative consultation(s), Dr Masters will openly discuss the risks with you so that you can consider them. There are two broad groupings of surgical risks: those that pertain to surgery in general; and those specific to the procedure being performed. A full listing of all the potential complications and risks of this procedure is beyond the scope of this website. But they include; Generalised surgical risks:

• Bleeding – usually occurs within the first 24-48 hours of the procedure and may require a return to the operating room. A quiet, restful post-operative period will help to avoid this problem.
• Bruising – whenever possible, Dr Masters uses medications and techniques that help to avoid post-operative bruising.
• Infection – surgical incisions, even though created in ideal circumstances, can become infected. When appropriate, antibiotics are prescribed to lower this risk.
• Unfavourable scarring – every surgical incision results in a scar. It is Dr Masters’ role to maximise the quality of your scars and, whenever possible, to hide them in natural skin creases.
• Allergic reactions – although unlikely to occur, some patients do have allergies to the medications used. If you are aware of any drug allergies you may have please notify Dr Masters.

Risks and Complications Specific to Liposuction

Liposuction, when performed using modern techniques by a fully qualified surgeon who has undergone comprehensive training in their field, should not result in significant complications. Surgery however, even liposuction, should not to be undertaken lightly; complications can and do occur from time to time. These include:

• Asymmetry – any right versus left asymmetry is usually within the normal levels present in people who have never had an operation.
• Skin death – this is a rare complication usually associated with the inappropriate use of UAL technology. Dr Masters has never had a case of skin loss from liposuction.
• Dimpling, rippling, ridges and divots – once again, with modern techniques using tumescent fluid and small cannula, these occurrences should be rare. Dr Masters aims to leave the skin no wavier than what it was pre-operatively.
• Sagging of skin post-operatively – this complication can occur, but is much less frequent than one would expect. If Dr Masters believes your skin will not shrink to match the post-liposuctional volume of the area concerned, then he will recommend an alternative surgical technique.
• Sensory changes – As discussed above, there can be a period of time where the skin loses sensation. Complete recovery of sensation after liposuction is expected with time.
• Scarring – as the punctures are so small, troublesome scarring from liposuction cannulas is rare.
  Fluid overload – with careful monitoring of fluid input and output during the operative procedure, this should not be an issue. One of the important roles of your anaesthetist is to precisely monitor fluid input and output during the case.
• Local anaesthetic overdose – performing this surgery under local anaesthetic does mean that significant amounts are used. International experience of tens of thousands of cases using high volumes of local anaesthetic has shown it to be a safe procedure when performed by an appropriately trained specialist in appropriately equipped environments. Nevertheless, the doses being used are high and deaths from local anaesthetic overdose have been reported in the overseas literature, there have been no deaths from liposuction in New Zealand.