Patient safety has become a hot topic of discussion, especially when it comes to plastic surgery. The hospital authority, surgeon, and the surgical team are liable for maintaining the patient’s safety inside the operating room. It is essential to circumvent preventable complications during or after the plastic surgeries. Many factors are affecting the success rate of the operation. So the surgeon has to understand the importance of understanding and abiding by the safety guidelines while executing the procedures.
Know about the risks
There is frequent news of deaths in people who have just been through a plastic surgery procedure. For instance, there has been an untimely death of a mother of two who opted for a Brazilian butt lift. The reason for death is probably the injection of silicone or other such illicit materials. As you know, any elective surgery has a certain level of risk. Unfortunately, these deaths are preventable only if the candidate gathered more knowledge about the procedure and consulted with a genuinely experienced medical practitioner.
Maintaining patient safety
There are four chief points that are critical for performing safe aesthetic plastic surgeries.
1. Patient quality: The surgeon has to assess the candidate and perform a thorough health checkup before concluding whether you are a good candidate for the procedure. There are a few criteria that you have to meet to be the ideal candidate for the procedure. It is more of assessing whether you can go through the entire process without any health issues.
2. Procedure suitability: It is also crucial for the surgeon to determine whether the procedure is going to suit you. It is mandatory to assess every candidate and then suggest the appropriate procedure for the particular individual. The conditions of each individual vary depending on which the surgeons have to make the decision.
3. Selection of surgeon: You have to ensure personal safety by choosing the right surgeon for the purpose. Through online research, it is now possible to gather much information about the different procedures as well as check the reviews of the top surgeons. If you consult a reputed surgeon, the chance of success is higher as these doctors will be careful about executing the procedures. Reputed surgeons will never aim to ruin their reputation with some careless act.
4. Surgical settings: The clinic where you will undergo the procedure should be a proper zone to perform such surgical procedures. The presence of basic equipment and emergency services is mandatory even if the surgery is trivial. You don’t know how complications can arise, and without the proper equipment, your life may even be at risk.
Maintaining the protocol
There has been an astonishing increase in reports of wrong sites, wrong procedures, and wrong candidates, leading to the rise of various complications after the surgery. But from 2004, it is mandatory for ambulatory care, accredited hospitals, and office-based surgical facilities to integrate a few elements for following the right protocol. The elements include preoperative identification of the patient, marking the operative site, ad completion of a “time out” before the surgeon makes the first incision. The protocol aims to reduce breaches in maintaining patient safety measures.
• Preoperative verification:
For any surgery, it is necessary to have all the relevant documents of the patient. For instance, if you undergo plastic surgery, the surgeon must have your complete medical history, along with accurate and up-to-date consent for undergoing the procedure. If any document needs clearance from medical professionals, then such reports should also be there. The protocol also focuses on ensuring the presence of all the required implantable materials that the surgeon will need during the procedure.
• Operative site marking:
The absence of important equipment at the operative site has made it mandatory for the surgeons to mark the operative site in the preoperative holding area. It is vital to pinpoint the operative area as the surgeon should have everything ready for the procedure. It may happen that something goes wrong during the process, and there is an immediate need for emergency survival equipment. Unless the doctor keeps everything handy, the time-lapse for procuring the equipment can cause life loss.
• Time out factor
Final verification is possible through the “time out” criteria. The surgeon can utilize this opportunity to check whether the right patient is present finally, and the right procedure is about to begin. This is also an opportunity to verify the presence of all tools and implants finally. Surgeons usually can complete the time out before or even after the induction. But it must include the entire operative team. According to the board guidelines, the surgeon must maintain active communication with the anesthetist, nurses, and rest of the team members.
Proper positioning
Do you know that your operation may not be satisfactory because the surgeon did not place you in the correct position during the procedure? For smooth completion of the operation, it is crucial to avoid poor patient positioning. It will also help in avoiding the chances of suffering from multiple postoperative morbidities. The anesthesiologist and the surgeon should both check our positioning to ensure protection to the airway. The surgeon should always keep in mind that you cannot complain about breathing discomfort when under anesthesia.
Don’t fall for offers
You might see “Board-certified” plastic surgeons offering to perform various procedures at a very nominal price. It is better not to avail of these luring offers as most of these come from the most unqualified practitioners. The emotionally charged commercials are enough to draw the attention of people from various countries to fall for the surgeons who are producing fake testimonies too. If you don’t have much knowledge about the topic, you will probably go for the affordable option, little aware that you are calling trouble.
Use logical sense
Above all, you have to use your intuitions and logical sense to verify whether the doctor is actually holding any certification. Browse online to know how to make smart decisions and choose the right surgeon and the right facilities to ensure safety. In the zeal of attaining a beautiful figure, but is better not to dismantle the healthy structure.
