Birmingham woman, 45, nearly dies during liposuction

PURPOSE: 

Liposuction removes fat from areas such as the abdomen, arms, buttocks, calves, chest, back, hips, thighs, neck, and very occasionally breasts.

The procedure reduces the number of fat cells in a specific area. The amount of fat removed depends on the appearance of the area and the volume of fat.

HOW IT’S DONE:

There are a few ways of doing it. 

The most common is ‘tumescent liposuction’:

1. Surgeon injects a sterile solution (salt water to help fat removal, anesthetic to relieve pain, and epinephrine to constrict blood vessels) into the area that’s being treated. The fluid causes the affected area to swell and stiffen.
2. The surgeon then makes small cuts into the skin, inserting a thin tube called a cannula. The cannula is connected to a vacuum sucking fat and fluids out of the body. 
3. Patients can later be given an IV drip to replenish their body fluids.

RISKS: 

If done in the wrong hands, liposuction can carry a number of risks, many life-threatening. 

Patients can suffer heart problems, like Diana, due to a shift in fluid levels as fluids are being injected in and suctioned out. 

Depending on the location of the operation, there could be a risk of puncturing an internal organ with the cannula.

Some botched operations have led to fat embolisms – when pieces of loosened fat might break away and become trapped in a blood vessel and gather in the lungs or travel to the brain. 

Skin infections are also possible, though rare.

Aesthetically, surgeons with little or poor experience could leave patients with bumpy, wavy or withered skin due to uneven fat removal, poor skin elasticity and unusual healing.  

They could tamper with nerves, causing permanent numbness in the affected area.