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Cut-Price Surgery Abroad Leads to Severe Complications
7 Jul
Summary
- Nearly half of patients returning from abroad faced serious surgical complications.
- The NHS has incurred substantial costs for treating these complications.
- Turkey was the most frequent origin for surgeries with complications.
A recent study revealed that almost half of patients undergoing cosmetic surgery abroad returned home with serious complications. These included wound splitting, tissue death, and sepsis, necessitating further medical intervention. The cost to the NHS for treating these issues between September 2022 and 2024 is estimated at £1.8 million, with individual patient care costing between £5883 and £9328. These figures may represent only a fraction of the true burden, as many cases are handled by various departments without central recording.
Plastic surgeons documented distressing incidents, noting that many patients accepted for surgery abroad had significant health risks or underwent multiple procedures simultaneously. Facial aesthetic procedures and abdominoplasty in individuals with high BMIs or pre-diabetes were highlighted as particularly risky. Notably, 76% of complications followed procedures in Turkey, with tummy tucks being the most frequently implicated surgery.
