British Plastic Surgeons to Vote on Brazilian Butt Lift Ban

It’s been called the deadliest cosmetic surgery procedure in the world, and now the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) is launching a formal safety review of Brazilian butt lifts that will culminate with a vote on whether to ban fat grafting buttock augmentation.

The main risk associated with the procedure is the development of a fatal or nonfatal fat embolism that could occur if the fat is injected into large veins and travels to the heart or brain. The risk of death is roughly one in 3000 procedures, and this risk is 16 times greater when fat was injected intramuscularly.

At last year’s conference, BAAPS recommended that members stop performing fat grafting to the buttocks until more data could be collated. Members recently shared their experiences with buttock fat grafting safety and techniques, and this information is paving the way for the formal review that will include a survey of each of its members and examine peer-reviewed published evidence. A final vote on whether to ban the procedure will take place after the review is complete.

 “Anyone thinking of having a fat-graft buttock augmentation should await the emergence of further, evidence and BAAPS will be working hard to provide the public with information to help them with informed consent about this procedure,” says BAAPS President Paul Harris in a news release. “Around the world there are still patient deaths as a result of this procedures and patient safety should not be compromised.”