A recent survey by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (BAAPS) reveals 38.5% of surgeons saw one to three patients over the past year experiencing complications with permanent facial fillers, and 23% of surgeons saw one to three patients in the past year with complications so severe surgery was needed to treat those complications.
British surgeons reported far fewer complications with nonpermanent fillers: 81% of surgeons did not see any complications with hyaluronic acids (Restylane, Perlane, Juvederm and Prevelle in the United States), collagen (Evolence, Cosmoderm), or calcium hydoxyl appetite (Radiesse). "Permanent fillers are very different from temporary dermal fillers because the results from temporary fillers do diminish over time," says Coalition leader Roger Dailey, MD, an oculoplastic surgeon practicing in Portland, Ore. "Temporary fillers can then be placed in subsequent years in a customized fashion to adjust for the changes that occur with age in the surrounding untreated areas."
In addition to complications from synthetic permanent fillers, 29% of British surgeons report a range from 1 to 12 patients per year with complications from the "lunchtime boob job," a procedure that uses skin-plumping injections like hyaluronic acid to enhance breast size.
"There is no commercial dermal filler approved for breast augmentation in the US, nor is injecting the breasts with a synthetic filler an accepted practice among US physicians. There simply is not enough data on the safety or outcomes for synthetic dermal filler injections to the breast or buttocks. Fat injections to the breast are still considered investigational. They being carefully researched, but fat is widely used and accepted to enhance the buttocks," says Coalition leader Julius Few, MD, a plastic surgeon practicing in Chicago.
The survey also revealed the top reason BAAPS physicians cited for complications with fillers: Unqualified practitioners are administering fillers incorrectly. "The problem of unqualified practitioners is not only in the United Kingdom, it’s here in the United States. Consumers need to always be aware of who is injecting them and what they are injecting them with," Dailey says.
[Source: Original press release]
