Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Liposuction fat emboli resulting in myocardial infarction: a case report and review of the literature

  • Case Report
  • Published:
European Journal of Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Liposuction is a well-tolerated and safe procedure performed by plastic surgeons. Rare, major complications include infection, perforation of abdominal wall/viscus, and fat emboli. Fat emboli, seen more often after long bone fractures, are rarely associated with liposuction. We report the only known case of myocardial infarction (MI) secondary to fat embolism in the setting of post-procedural liposuction. A review of the literature was undertaken to elucidate the pathophysiology of liposuction-associated fat embolism, identify patient and procedural risk factors, discuss diagnostic criterion, and identify management of this rare but potentially fatal complication.

Level of Evidence: V

Type of study: Risk study

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lehnhardt M, Homann HH, Daigeler A, Hauser J, Palka P, Steinau HU (2008) Major and lethal complications of liposuction: a review of 72 cases in Germany between 1998 and 2002. Plast Reconstr Surg 121(6):396e–403e

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Housman TS, Lawrence N, Mellen BG, George MN, Filippo JS, Cerveny KA, DeMarco M, Feldman SR, Fleischer AB (2002) The safety of liposuction: results of a national survey. Dermatologic Surg 28(11):971–978

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cárdenas-Camarena L, Andrés Gerardo L-P, Durán H, Bayter-Marin JE (2017) Strategies for reducing fatal complications in liposuction. Plast Reconstr Surg - Glob Open 5(10):e1539

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Kenkel JM, Brown SA, Love EJ, Waddle JP, Krueger JE, Noble D, Robinson JB Jr, Rohrich RJ (2004) Hemodynamics, electrolytes, and organ histology of larger-volume liposuction in a porcine model. Plast Reconstr Surg 113(5):1391–1399

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Laub DR (1990) Fat embolism syndrome after liposuction: a case report and review of the literature. Ann Plast Surg 25(1):48–52

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Şenen D, Atakul D, Erten G, Erdoǧan B, Lortlar N (2009) Evaluation of the risk of systemic fat mobilization and fat embolus following liposuction with dry and tumescent technique: an experimental study on rats. Aesthet Plast Surg 33(5):730–737

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mentz HA (2008) Fat emboli syndromes following liposuction. Aesthet Plast Surg 32(5):737–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Cárdenas-Camarena L (2003) Lipoaspiration and its complications: a safe operation. Plast Reconstr Surg 112(5):1435–1441

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Astarita DC, Scheinin LA, Sathyavagiswaran L (2015) Fat transfer and fatal macroembolization. J Forensic Sci 60(2):509–510

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Rao RB, Ely SF, Hoffman RS (1999) Deaths Releated to liposuction. N Engl J Med 340(19):1471–1475

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang HD, Zheng JH, Deng CL, Liu QY, Yang SL (2008) Fat embolism syndromes following liposuction. Aesthet Plast Surg 32(5):731–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ross R, Johnson G (1988) Fat embolism after liposuction. Chest. 93:1294–1295

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Akhtar S (2009) Fat Embolism. Anesthesiol Clin 27(3):533–550

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Newbigin K, Souza CA, Armstrong M, Pena E, Inacio J, Gupta A, Rakhra K (2016) Fat embolism syndrome: do the CT findings correlate with clinical course and severity of symptoms? A clinical-radiological study. Eur J Radiol 85(2):422–427

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Maghrebi S, Cheikhrouhou H, Triki Z, Karoui A (2017) Transthoracic echocardiography in fat embolism: a real-time diagnostic tool. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 31(3):e47–e48

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kwaitt ME, Seamon MJ (2013) Fat embolism syndrome. Int J Crit Illn Inj Sci 3(1):64–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ferrari F, Navarro LH, do Nascimento P Jr et al (2008) Coronary spasm as a trigger of acute myocardial infarction in a young patient submitted to liposuction. Plast Reconstr Surg 121(3):146e–147e

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Souza R, Apgaua B, Milhomens J (2016) Severe fat embolism in perioperative abdominal liposuction and fat grafting. Rev Bras Anestesiol 66(3):324–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Luke J. Grome, Erica Bartlett & Shayan Izaddoost

  2. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Shayan Izaddoost

Authors
  1. Luke J. Grome
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Erica Bartlett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shayan Izaddoost
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luke J. Grome.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

Dr. Grome, Dr. Bartlett, and Dr. Izaddoost declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Patient consent

All patient information has been de-identified and informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Funding

There was no funding provided for this study.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Grome, L.J., Bartlett, E. & Izaddoost, S. Liposuction fat emboli resulting in myocardial infarction: a case report and review of the literature. Eur J Plast Surg 42, 509–512 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-019-01514-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-019-01514-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation