The death of Kanye West’s mother on Saturday after she had
plastic surgery began to raise serious questions among people who would like to
undergo this kind of cosmetic procedure.
As the initial coroner investigation revealed, the cause of
Donda West’s death might have appeared due to complications after the surgery.
Every surgery carries some kind of risk, but there are ways
to minimize it. Plastic surgeries are something people want to go through because
they would like to change something in their look. However, few people that
undergo this surgery know that there is a slight possibility that they might
die due to complications intervened during or before the intervention.
In a study published in 2004 in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery, researchers revealed that cases of dying from serious complications
from tummy tucks, breast enlargement or reduction, liposuctions and other
cosmetic fixes were extremely rare.
Researchers discovered that only 1 in 299 patients had suffered
serious complications after plastic surgeries over a 2-year period. The total
amount of plastic procedures performed during this period raised up to 411,670.
Bruises, infections, respiratory problems and heart problems were named between
the most dangerous complications. However, just 1 in 58,810 patients died due
to plastic surgeries.
Dr. Richard D’Amico, president of the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons said that “there is always some risk” in any kind of surgery
and people undergoing plastic surgeries should be aware of this possibility.
In spite of the risks, about 11 million people had cosmetic surgery
procedures during the last year in the
Doctors belonging to this society have also some advice for people who face the need of changing something about their look. They said that a well-trained surgeon would minimize the risks of this kind of surgeries. Patients with previous medical problems, such as heart diseases are strongly advised to get an extensive medical check-up before undergoing the surgery.
Dr. Thomas Taylor of the ASPS reviewed some of the plastic surgeries and their possible complications:
"Tummy tucks, for instance, [are] very invasive, relatively lengthy operations, which [have] probably the highest rate of pulmonary embolism complications than any other procedure. Liposuction is regarded as a relatively easy operation to do, but there are a lot of untrained cosmetic surgeons that get into trouble because there are a lot of very big blood vessels and organs right under the skin. In this state one does not have to be a plastic surgeon to perform plastic surgery,” he said.
The anesthesiologists also play an important role in any kind of surgery. Some doctors may use just nurse-anesthetist and this can increase the risk of the surgery.
So think twice before undergoing plastic surgery procedures and make use of the best well-trained surgeons to perform it.