Patient Safety Advisory on Medi-spas

http://www.surgery.org/public/consumer/tips/medispas

Safety in Surgery is Serious

Patients should always research the surgery facility and the many people that will be involved in their medical care. For instance, PCN, where Dr. Salzman performs surgery, is a fully accredited ambulatory facility and is held to a much higher standard of care, safety, infection control, staff credentialing, etc, than in-office surgery suites. Accredited ambulatory facilities are staffed, trained and prepared with the newest state-of-the-art equipment if a medical emergency were to arise. Most in-office surgery suites are not. Terrifying but true. Dr. Salzman wants to emphasize to all patients to do their research. You should know who is taking care of you and what their abilities are in any given situation.

Botox® Scare
This past February there was a "Botox® Scare" in Florida when several patients became ill after receiving injections of what they thought was Botox® Cosmetic. It was discovered their Doctor of Osteopathic medicine had injected them with massive doses of an unregulated, unlicensed and unapproved botulinum toxin. Attempting to save money, the doctor purchased and mixed this toxin on his own. Allergan, the makers of the FDA approved Botox® Cosmetic, later issued a press release stating they had no part in this unfortunate event.

MAKE SURE YOU USE A BOARD CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON who
is specially trained to administer Botox®. If you have questions about your doctors training go to www.botoxcosmetic.com for a list of adequately trained physicians. Furthermore, if I can answer any questions you may have about Botox®, please call the office at 894-9900.

Marc J. Salzman, MD, FACS

Prophylactic Antibiotics Before Dental Work
Antibiotics before any dental work in patients with breast implants, has always been a very controversial topic among physicians. Dr. Salzman feels pre-medicating before any dental cleaning or dental work is a prophylactic measure against infection, which may be causative of capsular contracture around the breast capsule. When an individual has any dental procedure done, there is potential to introduce a transient bacteria into the bloodstream. This bacterium can cause infection or a hardening around the breast implant capsule. Dr. Salzman feels that by taking a couple antibiotics one hour before your appointment may decrease the possibilities of these complications later on. Breast implants should be treated as any other artificial device such as pacemaker or artificial joint replacement. Call your physician or dentist, who ever you feel most comfortable with, a few days before your procedure and they can call the prescription in for you.

Over The Counter Supplements Can Be Deadly
Diet Pills and Herbal Supplements, in combination with Anesthesia can be deadly! When considering surgery, a common fear is “ what if something goes wrong”. This is a very legitimate concern, therefore at your pre-operative appointment you should share with your physician and nurse all the prescribed medicines you currently take including all non-prescribed over the counter medications, herbal remedies or diet supplements. Many people today take these supplements and are unaware that they may have an adverse reaction or a potentially deadly outcome when mixed with anesthesia.

Dr. Salzman feels a safe time to be off diet pills and herbal medicines is three weeks before surgery. The adverse affects of diet pills and herbal supplements are, rapid heart rate, irregular heart rhythms, increased blood pressure, heart palpation’s, heart attack and cardiac arrest, potentially causing death. These supplements may also prolong anesthesia effects and increase bleeding, and other potential complications. Once your surgery is completed, you may resume these supplements. Aspirin and non-steroidal products are also a culprit when having surgery. These drugs can cause increased bleeding, and thereforeneed to be discontinued two weeks before and one week after surgery. When contemplating surgery, sit down with your medical staff and they will assist you in what medicines are safe for you to take before surgery and answer all your questions.

Bad Procedure Alert
While many women want larger breasts, some are hesitant to get breast implants. This hesitancy makes them the perfect target for people willing to perform high-risk alternative procedures.

One such procedure is the injection of fat into the breast to increase size. This may sound like a good idea, but it's not. Properly trained plastic surgeons do not perform this procedure because they know it is an unsafe procedure.

When fat is transferred from one part of the body into another, normally about 50% survives. The fat that doesn't survive is either reabsorbed into the body or it turns into a lump, or a calcification. This isn't as much of a problem in other areas of the body, but in the breast, these calcified lumps are not distinguishable from cancerous lumps with mammography. This can mean multiple biopsies to remove the lumps because patients would need to know if they were benign or malignant.

Vitamin E and Surgery
Vitamin E has long been touted for its healing benefits.  While Vitamin E helps to prevent scar tissue, it also inhibits the initial healing process. So don’t take Vitamin E for two weeks before and after a surgical procedure.