Long-Term Satisfaction with Breast Augmentation and Augmentation Mastopexy in the Latin American Population.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to determine the long-term satisfaction levels of women who have undergone breast augmentation and augmentation mastopexy procedures, while identifying the factors influencing patient satisfaction. METHODS: A self-reported retrospective case study design was used to collect data from women with breast implants. The study employed a survey that included demographic information, preoperative diagnosis, implant details, and patient-reported outcomes measured using the Breast-Q Instrument, which evaluates satisfaction with breasts, self-esteem, sexual well-being, and physical symptoms. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify correlations and differences in outcomes between the different variables. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 1022 women from 19 countries, with Chile, Mexico, and Colombia being the most represented. Augmentation was performed on 72.2% of the patients, while 27.7% underwent augmentation mastopexy. Patient satisfaction with breast size and shape varied significantly between the two procedures, with patients undergoing augmentation mastopexy showing less satisfaction. In addition, patients who were unaware of their implant shape or placement reported lower satisfaction scores. The study also found that patient satisfaction decreased over time in the augmentation mastopexy cases and that patients with high body mass index had lower satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Augmentation mastopexy in patients with breast ptosis yields lower satisfaction than augmentation alone. Dissatisfaction escalates with overweight/obesity (BMI), post-surgery time, and misinformation. Implant pocket (pre-vs. subpectoral), shape (round vs. anatomical), and size did not impact satisfaction. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Fibrosis Management Algorithm in Secondary Liposculpture.

Liposuction is considered one of the most common procedures in plastic surgery. However, major postoperative complications such as visceral injury, fluid overload, and necrotizing fasciitis still occur. Likewise, minor complications such as ecchymosis, seromas, infections, and contour irregularities that do not threaten the life of the patient do generate significant dissatisfaction. Current evidence regarding the management of fibrosis after previous liposuction remains limited. The objective of this article is to standardize a management algorithm based on the extensive experience and successful results of the primary author. Patients who underwent secondary liposculpture between August 2022 and May 2023 were evaluated prospectively. Inclusion criteria: Women between 18 and 60 years, non-smokers, with a body mass index (BMI) <35 kg/m2, history of previous body contouring surgeries. Identification of the patient's skin condition and subcutaneous lesions in the adipose tissue were obtained in detail. Statistical analysis of preoperative and postoperative medical photographs was also performed with Fiji Biological image analyzer. Photographic analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the areas affected by fibrosis from the preoperative photos compared to that from the postoperative ones (p<.001). The most frequent clinical findings were depressions in 99% of the women (74), followed by soft nodules in 95% (70), hard nodules in 81% (61), adherences in 47% (35), and finally, cutaneous bursas in 4%. Our classification system and management algorithm for fibrosis and contour irregularities is a safe and reliable tool and results were objectively verified, yielding statistically significant outcomes.

Use of Tranexamic Acid in Liposculpture: A Double-Blind, Multicenter, Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative hemostasis should be performed with great caution because bleeding is a huge enemy of patient safety during surgery. Tranexamic acid is a lysine synthetic derivate that inhibits fibrinolysis and diminishes the bleeding by blocking the five lysine-binding sites for plasminogen. The authors compare the efficacy of tranexamic acid versus placebo as a hemostatic agent in liposculpture procedures. METHODS: The authors conducted a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial in patients who were scheduled for liposculpture in three plastic surgery centers (Colombia and Mexico) between January of 2019 and February of 2020. One hundred forty-one patients were randomly assigned into three groups: intravenous (1 g of tranexamic acid), subcutaneous (1 g of tranexamic acid), and placebo (normal saline). Forty-seven patients were assigned to each group. There were 30 male patients and 111 female patients. The main outcome was to evaluate the amount of postoperative bleeding between groups. The primary outcome was measured by the hemoglobin point loss at day 1 (preoperative hemoglobin minus hemoglobin at day 1 postoperatively) and the hemoglobin (in milligrams per deciliter) point loss at day 5 (preoperative hemoglobin minus hemoglobin at day 5 postoperatively). RESULTS: The authors found the intravenous intervention group to have a greater hemoglobin level than the other two groups on both the first postoperative day ( p = 0.0001) and the fifth postoperative day ( p = 0.001). There were no statistical differences in hemoglobin values between the placebo and the subcutaneous intervention groups. CONCLUSION: Intravenous tranexamic acid is a good therapeutic choice to implement on liposculpture procedures to decrease postoperative bleeding. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: The preoperative use of intravenous tranexamic acid not only decreases the bleeding rate after liposuction procedures, but also allows greater lipoaspirate volumes when performing high-definition liposculpture. Further studies are required to support the effectiveness of tranexamic acid within the infiltration solution. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, I.

Patient Blood Management Strategies to Avoid Transfusions in Body Contouring Operations: Controlled Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a frequent process of morbidity and mortality in body contouring procedures. In aesthetic surgery, there are no standardized processes to minimize bleeding during surgery. For this reason, a study was designed to implement patient blood management strategies to reduce bleeding and transfusions in patients undergoing body contouring operations. METHODS: From January of 2017 to May of 2018, a prospective cohort-type observational study was conducted, including two groups of patients undergoing single or combined body contouring procedures. The first group did not receive patient blood management strategies, whereas the second group did receive these strategies. These measures consisted of preoperative strategies to ensure the patient had optimal hemoglobin and hematocrit levels and supportive intraoperative measures to minimize blood loss. The results were validated with different statistical tests according to the variables studied. RESULTS: A total of 409 patients were included in the study and were divided into two groups. The anthropometric and hemoglobin variables were similar in both groups. The 207 patients for whom patient blood management strategies were implemented lost an average of 1.2 g/dl less hemoglobin at 72 hours than the 202 patients for whom patient blood management strategies were not implemented (p ≤ 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Patient blood management strategies, such as increasing hemoglobin before surgery, and strategies to minimize blood loss during surgery, proved to be effective at reducing bleeding in patients undergoing body contouring surgery, also decreasing the need to perform postoperative blood transfusions. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.

Elective Surgery during SARS-Cov-2/COVID-19 Pandemic: Safety Protocols with Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Health care systems worldwide have been affected by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emergence since December 2019. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a steep decrease in elective surgery scheduling, to the extent of complete cancellation without future planning of safe development. PURPOSE: We performed a review of the literature and diagnosis data analysis with the aim to reduce the risk of operating a patient infected with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 during the incubation period. METHODS: We searched for specific words and phrases about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 in the PubMed database (US National Library of Medicine) from December 2019 to April 2020. A detailed analysis of the clinical picture and existing diagnostic tests for COVID-19 was performed to achieve the desired objectives. RESULTS: A total of 1273 out of 5930 articles about COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 did meet the criteria for the searched terms. We reviewed 105 articles, and 60 were selected for analysis. Specific recommendations were described based on our revision. CONCLUSIONS: With the combination of immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibody tests + real-time polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2 implemented in different time periods by taking into account the natural history of the disease, it is possible to decrease the risk of operating a patient during the incubation period higher than 93%. Adding other security measures can further increase this percentage. As long as there is no immunity to COVID-19, these measures will help us to perform safer elective surgeries.

Macro Fat Embolism After Gluteal Augmentation With Fat: First Survival Case Report.

Gluteal augmentation with fat has become one of the most common cosmetic procedures worldwide. Gluteal augmentation is designed to increase the volume and contour of the gluteal region. Intramuscular lipoinjection has been linked to multiple reports of severe complications, including death due to macro fat embolism (MAFE). The authors present the first reported case of survival and successful recovery after MAFE secondary to gluteal augmentation with fat. A 41-year-old woman, ASA II, was scheduled for augmentation mammaplasty, liposuction, and gluteal augmentation with fat. The patient was operated under general anesthesia with a total intravenous anesthesia technique. A total of 3.5 liters of fat was liposuctioned with no complications. The patient was then positioned in a lateral decubitus position for gluteal augmentation with fat. Right after the last injection, the anesthesiologist noticed a sudden change in capnography followed by hypotension, bradycardia, and hypoxemia. The first reaction in the operating room was to consider that the patient was experiencing a severe episode of fat embolism. She was then resuscitated and transferred to a tertiary facility for intensive care management. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of successful resuscitation in a patient experiencing severe MAFE after gluteal augmentation with fat. We believe that this patient survived the event due to early detection, aggressive management, and proper transfer to an intensive care unit. Level of Evidence: 5.

Understanding Fatal Fat Embolism in Gluteal Lipoinjection: A Review of the Medical Records and Autopsy Reports of 16 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Deaths secondary to gluteal lipoinjection are relatively recent events of major importance. However, little is known in relation to their behavior and clinical evolution. Therefore, an analysis was performed of case records from clinical cases that encountered this problem, correlating the results with the findings during autopsies. METHODS: An analysis was performed of records from patients who died secondary to gluteal lipoinjection. Patient-specific data, surgical procedure, clinical picture, evolution, and outcome were analyzed. The findings of the autopsies and the involvement of other organs were also analyzed and correlated. RESULTS: From 2000 to 2009, 16 files were obtained that fulfilled the indicated requirements. There were no statistically significant differences in the general characteristics of the patients, such as age, body mass index, or volume lipoinjected or liposuctioned. The clinical pictures were similar in all cases, and the autopsy findings showed the presence of microembolism in all cases and macroembolism in the most severe cases. CONCLUSIONS: The most significant parameter of severity in patients who undergo gluteal lipoinjection is the presence of fat in macroscopic form in the circulation. The volumes of liposuctioned or lipoinjected fat have little influence. Hypoxemia, hypotension, and bradycardia are the characteristic clinical features. Although there is no specific treatment, immediate aggressive vital support to attempt to stabilize the patient is crucial. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, V.

Microscopic and Macroscopic Fat Embolism: Solving the Puzzle with Case Reports.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of fat embolism mortality after liposuction has increased. As the only dependable evidence for this problem is that available in the medical literature, a study of clinical case reports is warranted. METHODS: The authors reviewed the medical literature by searching for case reports of fat embolism after liposuction in humans who manifested either of the variants of the condition: microscopic fat embolism or macroscopic fat embolism. The authors performed a literature search of the PubMed and PubMed Central databases from the first case of fat embolism syndrome associated with liposuction reported until March of 2017; keywords Fat Embolism (Fat Embolism Syndrome), Liposuction, and Case (((fat embolism) AND liposuction) AND case) were used. A detailed analysis of the data contained in the clinical case reports was conducted. RESULTS: In total, 39 and 98 articles were found in PubMed and PubMed Central, respectively, using the keywords (((Fat + Embolism) + AND + Liposuction) + AND + Case). After analysis, only 15 reports corresponded to cases of macroscopic or microscopic fat embolism after liposuction, and the basic statistics of the two proposed variants were examined. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides relevant information regarding very important characteristics of microscopic and macroscopic fat embolism. Despite the diagnostic difficulty, clinical diagnosis remains the gold standard for identifying microscopic and macroscopic fat embolism. The establishment of a rapid and timely diagnosis is of great help for appropriate treatment.

Improvement of the Gluteal Contour: Modern Concepts with Systematized Lipoinjection.

Buttock enlargement with lipoinjection is a procedure that has had a very high demand in the last 5 years. Changes in aesthetics have made more patients request greater volume in their buttocks and hips. The procedure requires not only liposuction, in which the fat is obtained, but also a systematization off the fat injection process in the buttock to obtain the appropriate aesthetic results according to the characteristics of each patient. The procedure achieves very satisfactory results because it can transform the patient's physical appearance significantly.

Critical Differences between Microscopic (MIFE) and Macroscopic (MAFE) Fat Embolism during Liposuction and Gluteal Lipoinjection.

BACKGROUND: Liposuction and gluteal lipoinjection are two of the most frequent surgical procedures in body contouring surgery, and two of the most important complications are microscopic (MIFE) and macroscopic (MAFE) fat embolism. Despite a high index of morbidity and mortality, few reports exist about these complications, and although they have the same causal agent, their etiopathogenesis, clinical evolution, treatment, prognosis, and prevention are totally different. Therefore, the authors performed a comprehensive review of the literature to exhaustively analyze both pathologic conditions and present the differences between them. METHODS: A detailed search was carried out in PubMed of studies on humans from 1946 to March of 2017 in any language and including the keywords microscopic fat embolism and macroscopic fat embolism with either liposuction or gluteal lipoinjection. The articles found were selected according to the search criteria and were analyzed to provide the final data and recommendations. RESULTS: Of the 1245 and 26 articles that were found on complications related to liposuction and gluteal lipoinjection, respectively, only 41 on liposuction and microscopic fat embolism and seven on gluteal lipoinjection and microscopic fat embolism met the specific criteria for inclusion in the analysis. Only two articles on liposuction and two on gluteal lipoinjection referred to macroscopic fat embolism as a complication. CONCLUSION: Although microscopic fat embolism and macroscopic fat embolism are pathologic conditions with high morbidity and mortality rates in association with liposuction and gluteal lipoinjection, few reports about them exist; therefore, the authors made recommendations based on this study for their diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

Effects of Thermal Protection in Patients Undergoing Body Contouring Procedures: A Controlled Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Hypothermia is common in many plastic surgery procedures, but few measures to prevent its occurrence are taken. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effect of hypothermia in patients undergoing plastic surgery procedures and the effect of utilizing simple and inexpensive measures to prevent patient hypothermia during surgery. METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed among 3 groups of patients who underwent body contouring surgery for longer than 3.5 hours. In group 1, no protective measures were taken to prevent hypothermia; in group 2, maneuvers were applied intraoperatively for the duration of the entire surgical procedure; and in group 3, measures were taken preoperatively and intraoperatively. The results were quantified and analyzed through a bivariate analysis, including degree of hypothermia, anesthesia recovery time, time spent in the recovery area, intensity of pain, cold perception, response to opioids, and nausea. RESULTS: There were 122 patients included in the study: 43 in group 1, 39 in group 2, and 40 in group 3. All patients in group 1 had a higher degree of hypothermia, longer recovery time from anesthesia, longer overall recovery time, increased pain, increased feeling of cold, and more nausea. These patients also required a greater amount of opioids compared with the patients in groups 2 and 3. Many of the results were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of simple and inexpensive measures before and during plastic surgery can prevent patient hypothermia during the procedures, leading to a shorter anesthesia recovery time and avoiding the undesirable effects associated with hypothermia. In addition, these measures may have significant economic savings.

Strategies for Reducing Fatal Complications in Liposuction.

BACKGROUND: Liposuction has become one of the most common cosmetic surgical procedures, and severe complications secondary to this procedure have also increased significantly. That is why we carry out a research work to know the most frequent severe complications reported in the scientific literature to indicate criteria for prevention. METHODS: English-language scientific publications about liposuction and its complications were analyzed using the PubMed.gov, from the beginning of PubMed's history through June 10, 2017. Five terms were used to define liposuction and its complications: "liposuction," "liposuction AND complications," liposuction AND major complications," "liposuction AND complications AND death," and "liposuction AND death." The quantities of results for the 5 phrases were analyzed, along with their contents. RESULTS: One thousand sixty-three results were obtained from 1973 through June 10, 2017 for the phrase "Liposuction and Complications" in humans; for "Liposuction and Major Complications," 153 articles were found; for "Liposuction and Deaths," 89 articles were found; and 42 articles were obtained with the terms "Liposuction and Major Complications and Deaths." After final depuration, all those that were not specific to severe liposuction complications were eliminated, leaving a total of 39 articles that were included in our study. Five problems proved to be the most serious complications when performing liposuction: Thromboembolic disease, fat embolism, pulmonary edema, lidocaine intoxication, and intraabdominal visceral lesion. CONCLUSIONS: The 5 most important complications that can cause death in liposuction are easily preventable using simple measures and proper safety protocols that are described in this work.