A new study found that minor cosmetic surgeries performed by professional surgeons are very safe and have very low complication rates.
Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine analyzed 20,399 minor cosmetic surgeries including fillers, neurotoxins, and laser procedures. The data came from eight centers across the United States involving 23 dermatologists.
The analysis showed zero major complication and only 0.52 percent, or 36 procedures, had minor complications such as bruising, swelling, redness, bumpiness or skin darkening, according to Healthday News. The patients recovered from these minor complications without undergoing follow-up treatments.
"The message for patients is that if you are thinking of getting one of these procedures, you are not indulging in something drastic or high-risk," said study leader Dr. Murad Alam, a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in a university news release.
The study is the first to look at the complication rates of cosmetic procedures.
Botox treatments were found to have higher complications among all procedures because it is more invasive. The researchers recommend to those planning having cosmetic surgeries to consider combinations of minor surgeries instead of one major surgery to lessen the risk.
The findings of the American study sparked interest to the British dermatologists. A survey conducted by the British Association of Dermatologists showed an opposite result wherein the complication rate on minor cosmetic surgeries is high at 58 percent. More than half are due to filler injections causing irreversible damage.
The Department of Health plans to release new accreditation guidelines to ensure that only those with proper training are performing minor cosmetic surgeries.
"It is only safe if you have the necessary training," Nigel Mercer, deputy president of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, told BBC.
The study results were published in the Nov. 5 issue of JAMA Dermatology.
