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The need for revisional procedures in aesthetic plastic surgery is not rare. The exact number or percentage of time this need arises can not be precisely determined as each cosmetic procedure and patient are unique. But if one had to choose an average number, all factors considered, the number that would be around 15%. Understand this is an average number but what I like about this number is that it catches a patient’s attention. It lets one know that it is not common but on the other hand it is not rare.

Most of the time these revisions are relatively minor and are often adjustments or tweaks  to improve some small area of an otherwise successful procedure. But less commonly the original procedure has ‘failed’. This may be due to loss of an implant, for example, or an operation that simply did not do what one thought it would do. Or in the worse case scenario, the operation resulted in a complication that has now caused a worse problem than the original aesthetic concern they were trying to improve.

When ‘bad things happen’, patients seeking revisions become understandably much more cautious. They do more research, ask more questions, get different opinions, and overall put a lot more thought into the next surgery before proceeding with it. This makes one a much more educated patient which usually leads to an improved outcome. For the plastic surgeon, the revisional surgery patient requires a greater investment of time and education.

‘After An Unsuccessful Aesthetic Surgery, A Patient Will Become A Cautious Consumer’ 

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana

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