ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Liposuction is a surgical procedure that was developed approximately 30 years ago by Fournier, Illouz, and others. In 2011, a total of 211,108 liposuction procedures were performed in Brazil versus 325,332 in the United States. Over the years, liposuction performed with the tumescent technique has had a good safety profile. It is also performed by other specialists, including dermatologists, and has been described as an outpatient procedure in public institutions in Brazil. The scarcity of data on the subject has led the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (BSPS) to create a commission composed of 10 full members with the aim of investigating the factors involved in severe liposuction-related complications and death in Brazil.
Methods:
An online questionnaire was created using an anonymous link on the BSPS website. The questionnaire was sent to the registered email addresses of 4,441 associate and full members of the BSPS. The first question was about the occurrence of liposuction-related complications. The respondents could only continue to answer the questionnaire if the answer to this question was “yes.” In addition to the questionnaire, the BSPS sent letters to the official state and federal institutions in which the case or complication/death-related records and/or deaths as a consequence of liposuction were expected to exist. The significance of the association between death and the various factors was determined using the chi-square test. The significant variables were included in Poisson Regression Models. The significance level was set at 5%. The data were analyzed using STATA software version 10.0.
Results:
Thromboembolic events, combined surgical procedures, and the facilities where the procedure was performed were risk factors involved in liposuction-related mortality.
Conclusion:
The implementation of programs that aim to standardize liposuction procedures may effectively reduce liposuction-related mortality rates. This study aimed to make a positive educational impact on the development of future safe liposuction protocols.
Keywords:
Liposuction; Lipoplasty; Mortality rate; Complications; Survey