Considerations Before Plastic Surgery

Although millions of people have plastic surgery every year without complications, no surgical procedure is risk-free. When considering plastic surgery, a person’s motivation is generally driven by the expected result rather than the surgical process. ASPS urges teenagers contemplating plastic surgery, as well as their parents or guardian, to consider the following:

Certification
Patients should be sure that their plastic surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). All ABPS-certified physicians have:

• Graduated from an accredited medical school;
• Completed a combination of at least five years of general surgery and plastic surgery residency training; and
• Passed comprehensive written and oral exams.

Accreditation
ASPS requires that all members who perform surgery under anesthesia, other than minor local anesthesia and/or minimal oral tranquilization, must do so in a facility that meets at least one of the following criteria.

• Accreditation by a national or state recognized accrediting agency/organization such as the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), or the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO);
• Certified to participate in the Medicare program under Title XVIII; or
• Licensed by the state in which the facility is located.

Informed Consent
At the highest level of care, every surgery has risks as well as benefits. ASPS recognizes the physician-patient relationship is one of shared decision-making. This decision-making process is called informed consent. The ASPS “Statement of Principle on Informed Consent” details the information that should be discussed and understood by the patient as well as the patient’s parents or guardian, including: details of the surgery, benefits, possible consequences and side effects of the operation, potential risks and adverse outcomes as well as their probability and severity; alternatives to the procedure being considered and their benefits, risks and consequences; and the anticipated outcome. For more information on informed consent, patients are encouraged to talk with their surgeons.

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