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Complications after liposuction on the face and neck
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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As a rule, unlike potentially dangerous complications of liposuction on the whole body, the main complications of liposuction on the face and neck are small and temporary disturbances. Unlike operations on the body, where large amounts of fat removal can lead to volemic disorders and blood loss, liposuction on the face and neck rarely affects hemodynamics. As noted earlier, usually the volume of fat removed ranges from 10 to 100 cm3.
Infectious complications develop rarely and are observed in less than 1% of patients. Postoperative antibiotic therapy is not required, but the lactation of private practitioners is administered an antibiotic, at least once intravenously during the operation. When liposuction is the primary operation, hematomas, seromas or sialocele are also observed in less than 1% of patients. Sialotsele often occurs after liposuction over the parotid lump; treatment may require the use of a pressure bandage, the introduction of anticholinergics or drainage. When liposuction is used as an additional method, fluid accumulation can be caused by more aggressive interventions, such as rhytidectomy. Fluid accumulation is usually effectively eliminated by puncture biopsy or by extrusion through the incision line.
Long-term disorders can manifest as saggy skin or scarring. Excessive sagging of the skin can be the result of improper selection of patients or unpredictable senile or pre-existing changes, and require rhytidectomy. Scarring may be due to poor healing, poor surgical technique, or infection. The cause of the disorders may be excessive thinning of the subcutaneous layer or incorrect orientation of the lumen of the cannula. The possibilities of correction of scarring of the skin are limited.
Uneven aspiration can lead to asymmetry, but as the surgical experience accumulates, this occurs less and less. A small corrective liposuction can be performed in the office under local anesthesia, a small cannula with a syringe. In problem areas too small for liposuction, you can carefully enter 0.1-0.2 cm3 solution of triamcinolone acetate (10 mg / ml) at intervals of 4-6 weeks. The administration of a higher dose or too frequent injections can lead to thinning, skin entanglement and the formation of spider-like telangiectasia.
Small local postoperative tissue depressions usually require the use of fillers. Collagen or auto-fat can be effective for these purposes, which is usually only a temporary solution to the problem. Greater tissue deficiency may require the use of synthetic materials, such as buccal gum implants, or dermal transplants, such as the cell-free dermal flap (AlloDerm). Of course, prevention is the best treatment, and it is worth emphasizing again. Damage to the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve is rare, as is the occurrence of secondary hyperesthesia associated with trauma to the large ear nerve. If paresis, paresthesia or paralysis, nevertheless develops, it is almost always short-lived and resolved with the passage of time.
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