Liposuction has a potentially fatal risk

When the goal is to lose the extra pounds and fats that remain salient, there are those who opt for liposuction, a long-used invasive technique that consists of 'sucking' subcutaneous fat.

It is a safe, but not totally risk-free, surgical procedure. An article recently published in the journal BMJ Case Reports has brought to the limelight a rare complication associated with liposuction, but that may even be fatal for the patient. We talked about the embolism.

 

 

The embolism, explains the Health magazine website, occurs when fat globules loosen from the surrounding tissue and travel to the blood vessels in the brain or lungs where they are lodged and thus block the flow of blood or oxygen and can lead to death.

Although it is a common consequence of bone fractures or major trauma, liposuction is also a potential risk, although rare.

The study that reported a current case of embolism associated with this type of plastic surgery, occurring in a 45-year-old woman who removed ten liters of fat from the lower limbs, is not always easy to diagnose this pathology and the symptoms associated with embolism (such as drowsiness and mental confusion) can happen days after the surgical procedure, which makes it even more complex to decipher what happens to the person.