Liposculpture involves using ultrasound to break down fat before removal, and/or surgery to remove fat where it is excessive and potentially add it to other areas of the body with the aim to get a better shape. It is in many ways a form of liposuction.
In a world where appearance is everything, it isn’t surprising that many people now turn to cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance. The industry is worth a lot of money as people are willing to pay thousands and thousands of pounds to look as good as they possibly can.
As a leading law firm in the battle for PIP breast implant compensation, we know all too well that the industry in the UK is poorly regulated and procedures are on the rise. It’s therefore no surprise to our clinical negligence lawyers here at The Injury Lawyers to see an increase in the amount of people asking for our help to make a claim for compensation when things go wrong.
So when it comes to liposculpture / liposuction, let’s take a look at what can go wrong:
DVT / Thrombosis – clotting of the blood which can obstruct or stop the flow of blood, leading to serious problems. This can lead to a pulmonary embolism which is a potentially fatal blockage in the lungs that is caused by a blood clot.
Pulmonary Oedema – a build up of fluid in the lungs that can be caused by fluid being injected in the the body.
Haenatoma – bleeding under the skin.
Organ Damage – which of course can be very serious.
General Problems – lumpy or uneven results after fat has been removed, numbness in incision areas, changes in skin colour, bad swelling or bruising, and fluid leakage from cuts. Another one is thrombophlebitis, which is inflammation of the veins; common inside the knee and upper thigh if these areas are treated.
Infection – commonly of the incision area.
If the surgery is predominantly abdominal, which many are, there are a lot of risks associated with invasive abdominal surgery such as infection or hernias caused by damage to the muscle tissue. This can be caused by aggressive removal of fat, but at the same time can be an inherent risk of this type of surgery.
So if you do end up suffering because something has gone wrong with your surgery, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation against the surgeon or the clinic where you had your operation? There are a lot of inherent risks when it comes to surgery, so claiming comes down to providing that negligence has occurred. The burden of proving a claim is always on a claimant.
Mistakes – if a mistake has been made, you can claim for negligence. However, proving this could be quite difficult as there are a lot of inherent risks associated with cosmetic surgery.
Failure to Warn – if you do suffer from an inherent risk that you were not aware of prior to the surgery, and this would have changed your mind about going through with the procedure, you could make a claim. Read all paperwork you are asked to sign VERY carefully.
Failure to Treat – if the follow up care is poor and you end up suffering when the clinic or the surgeon could have done something about it, you may be able to claim.
For advice, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 today.
Source: www.nhs.uk/Liposuction-Risks-Complications
