The research, conducted by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), is the largest UK study of its kind and analysed 198 cases of people who required treatment after returning home from cosmetic surgery overseas.
The findings highlight the potentially serious consequences of chasing lower-cost procedures without fully understanding the risks involved.
According to the study, nearly three-quarters of patients required further medical treatment or surgery once back in the UK, while almost half needed corrective operations under general anaesthetic. The complications ranged from severe infections and wounds reopening to tissue death and fluid build-up requiring repeated treatment. Tragically, one patient died after suffering a pulmonary embolism.
The majority of complications followed procedures carried out in Turkey, accounting for 76% of the cases studied. Women represented 93% of patients, with an average age of just 39. Tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) were the most common procedure associated with complications, while many patients had undergone several major cosmetic operations during the same trip abroad.
The study found 37% of patients experienced wounds that failed to heal properly, 28% developed infections, 24% suffered fluid collections known as seromas, and 20% experienced tissue necrosis, where skin or fat dies due to poor blood supply.
BAAPS believes several factors are contributing to the growing problem. These include the popularity of social media advertising, influencer endorsements and all-inclusive cosmetic surgery holiday packages, which often focus on low prices while paying less attention to the realities of recovery and aftercare.
Surgeons treating returning patients reported concerns including inadequate follow-up care, patients being accepted for surgery despite significant health risks, multiple complex procedures being performed during one operation, and people flying home before it was medically advisable.
The financial impact is also significant. BAAPS estimates that treating these complications has already cost the NHS between £1.2 million and £1.8 million, although the true figure is likely to be much higher because many cases are treated by emergency departments, GPs and other hospital specialties without being included in the association's database.
BAAPS President Nora Nugent warned that cosmetic surgery should never be viewed as a holiday activity.
She told That's Health that while overseas clinics often promote luxury hotels, attractive prices and impressive before-and-after photographs, they rarely show the patients who return home with serious infections, open wounds or life-threatening complications.
The association stresses that many overseas surgeons provide excellent care and that millions of cosmetic procedures are performed safely around the world each year.
However, anyone considering travelling abroad should thoroughly research their surgeon, verify professional accreditation, understand exactly what aftercare will be available, ensure they are medically fit for surgery and avoid making decisions based on price alone.
BAAPS is calling for greater public awareness, tighter regulation of overseas cosmetic surgery advertising, improved monitoring of complications within the NHS and consideration of compulsory complication insurance for patients travelling abroad for cosmetic procedures.
As the study concludes, what appears to be a bargain operation can quickly become a very costly complication, both for the patient and for the health service.
To learn more visit baaps.org.uk
That's Health will also be covering the risks of travelling overseas for dental work in the near future.
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