| Liposuction and tummy tuck lead to disastrous result for woman patient |
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| Monday, 19 March 2007 | |
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She was left without a nipple as a result of the breast reduction and had her belly button removed during the tummy tuck. She also claims that the liposuction left lose flaps of skin hanging from her arms. "I didn't really know what liposuction was - I just thought that I was going to have a nice flat stomach afterwards as a result of a tummy tuck," she told the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. The surgeon who performed the operation, who cannot yet be named, faces charges of professional misconduct. The woman claims that the doctor didn't tell her how major the surgery would be, the risks of tissue dying or that her obesity meant there was an increased risk of complications arising from the surgery. "(The doctor) told me that I was the perfect candidate because I had slim legs and no bottom, and I was going to look great when it was over." A separate plastic surgeon, acting as an expert witness, said that the patient was left with a grossly disfigured right breast, unsightly scarring, gross distortion of the pubic area and "unimpressive" results from the liposuction. "I have seldom seen such an unfortunate outcome from what would be, in properly trained hands... three reasonably simple plastic surgical procedures" he said. He added that the fact the operation took less than four hours suggested "inappropriate haste with scant attention to meticulous detail". Days after the woman returned home from hospital, she discovered that the surgery had cut blood flow to her right nipple, causing necrosis. Her umbilical stump, extending inwards behind her belly button, was also dying from necrosis. The scars from her abdominoplasty also became infected and the skin on her upper arms hung loose after the fat in her arms had been removed, without the excess skin being removed. Just two weeks after the initial surgery, she was back in hospital to have her belly button and right nipple removed, losing still more of her breast in the process. However, even after this time, the abdominoplasty scar infection had not healed properly and two months after the initial procedure, the woman woke up to find the infected wound in her side had ruptured and her bed was soaked in blood. The woman told the tribunal she was happy to have all the procedures performed in a single operation and admitted she told the doctor she did not want to hear the details of the operation. "I did not want to know the gory details of what bits he was going to cut and how he was going to perform the operation." The doctor faces charges of professional misconduct for failing to gain informed consent, failing to co-ordinate the surgery adequately, performing the breast reduction without reasonable care and skill, not keeping adequate records and for performing procedures for which he had inadequate expertise and training. His lawyer says that he will rigorously deny the charges when he is called to give evidence. The hearing continues this week. |
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