Risks & Complications of Body Lift Surgery

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It is easy to be blasé about cosmetic procedures so it is important that you bear in mind the fact that body lift surgery is a surgical procedure carried out under general anaesthetic and thus involves an element of personal risk. Your surgeon will probably ask you to fill in a type of 'informed consent form'. The fact that it is called an 'informed' consent form (as opposed to simply a “consent form”) means that it is important that you understand all the risks that are associated with the procedure. Most surgeons will talk you through all the potential risks as part of your initial consultation but you may need to prompt them to give you any further details that you require or are worried about.

As with any form of surgery, most patients will not be affected adversely by body lift surgery, but it is important to know the potential side effects and complications that could occur if you were one of the unlucky few.

Potential complications with body lift surgery

It is possible that you are left with areas of wrinkly skin after your body lift surgery due to changes in your skin position. The procedure could also leave areas of skin deformity or asymmetry due to irregularities in your muscle tone, bone structure and the arrangement of fat around your body. After your body lift surgery you may have reduced skin sensitivity in the operated areas. In some cases your sensation may not return completely (or at all).

Body lift surgery will leave you with some scars, but occasionally these scars may become discoloured. Further surgery could be used to remove the scars if you felt that they were unsightly. Sometimes your wounds make take longer to heal than expected and you will need to make numerous dressing changes to assist healing. In very rare occasions areas of your skin may die and need to be removed by additional surgery. If your wounds became infected after your procedure you may be prescribed antibiotics or require follow-up surgery, but this is also extremely uncommon.

Very rarely post-operative bleeding could cause accumulation of blood which might require additional surgery to drain. You might even need to have a blood transfusion if your bleeding was extensive. Drainage could also be required in the rare case of fluid accumulating between your skin and lower tissues (known as seroma). In exceptional cases, you may be left with chronic pain due to nerves being trapped during your body lift surgery. Persistent leg swelling could also be caused by body lift surgery although this is  not common.

You may have an allergic reaction to something used during your body lift and this may require further treatment. In addition, body lift surgery includes potential complications from the general anaesthesia including injury and death. The risks of general anaesthesia include pulmonary complications and potential lung collapse which would require hospitalisation. Blood clots and deep vein thrombosis are other risks associated with general anaesthesia and any history (or family history) of aneurysms will need to be discussed with your surgeon.

At the opposite end of the severity scale, you may simply be disappointed with the results from your body lift surgery and this could be made worse by any subsequent changes in your body that occur due to pregnancy, aging or further weight lost (or gain). 

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