21 Aug Dr. Grigoryants reviews safety of plastic surgery
This post will describes what steps we take to ensure safety for our patients. When these guidelines are followed, plastic surgery can be performed with a very high degree of safety.
1. Patient selection: Prior to surgery, patients are screened for any medical conditions and their ability to withstand surgery and anesthesia. For young and healthy patients, surgery is very safe. Older patients and patients with medical problems will need to undergo medical clearance by their primary care doctors or cardiologists. In certain cases, even stress tests will be ordered to evaluate the patients cardiac function. From time to time, we will turn down patients based on their age and/or medical condition.
2. Type of surgery performed: Certain procedures like (rhinoplasty, facelift, breast augmentation etc.) are associated with relatively little bleeding and little stress on the body. On the other hand large volume liposuction (over 5 liters) or tummy tuck with a large volume liposuction is more stressful for the body. When patients undergo combined surgeries or large volume liposuction, we recommend the patients stay in the hospital for at least 1 day for observation and intravenous hydration. During surgery surgery the patients vitals signs and fluid maintenance is very important. Dr. Grigoryants’ training and experience in Critical Care Medicine in addition to plastic surgery, allows him to take extra steps in ensuring intraoperative safety for his patients.
3. Duration of surgery: Most procedures in plastic surgery when performed by an experienced surgeon are relatively short. For example, Dr. Grigoryants’ rhinoplasty takes about 2-2.5 hours, breast augmentation 1.5 hours, and tummy tuck with liposuction 3-3.5 hours. Certain procedures can be combined safely. Although the relationship between the risk of complications and duration of surgery is not very clear, Dr. Grigoryants limits the duration of surgery to less than 6-7 hours when procedures are combined. When more extensive procedures are required, it is best to do them separately at different times.
4. Surgical Enviroment: Surgical procedures with anesthesia have to be performed in the hospital or an accredited surgical center. These facilities will have the necessary equipment and medications to allow for safer surgery. For example, patients vital signs are carefully monitored before, during, and after surgery; warming blanket are used to keep patients warm; and sequential compression devices (SCD’s) are placed on all patients to minimize the risk of deep vein thrombosis.
To learn more visit our website http://www.vgplasticsurgery.com