Plastic surgery in many aspects is a product that patients buy. This may not be exactly true in reconstructive surgery where a patients needs the service. But it is most certainly true in aesthetic surgery where the patient will suffer no physical harm if they do not have the surgery. Many patients do ask what is the guarantee of this plastic surgery ‘product’ should the result not be to their liking or they suffer an unforeseen complication. The simple answer to that question, unlike a retail product that you buy in a store or online, is that there are no guarantees in plastic surgery. No one can always predict exactly how the human body will react to the insult of surgery, the manipulation of tissue or its reaction to the placement of a synthetic implant. Plus, there is always the wild card of how any patient will react to a physical change even if everything about the surgery and recovery is completely uncomplicated. But what one does buy and should be guaranteed is the plastic surgeon’s four Es. If a patient does their homework and research, these four E’s will usually lead to what the patient wants…Excellent results.
‘The Four Es of Plastic Surgery are Education, Experience, Effort and Ethics… which usually leads to Excellence’
Dr. Barry Eppley