Narrator: Could it be unsafe to have multiple procedures?
Robert Kotler, MD: The issue of is it safe to have multiple procedures because they add up in length. And that does have to be taken into consideration.
You do have to take into consideration the length of the operation, but more importantly, the nature of the operation.
Robert Kotler, MD (cont.): The reason is that liposuction for example,
and what we call large volume liposuction has had some percentage of significant complications due to the nature of the procedure, where there is just a lot of fluid being sucked out of the body,
and a lot of fluid being put in for the anesthesia and frankly it's a little less scientific than we'd like it to be, and for that reason, the time element of the operation comes into play,
the volume comes in, in other words, that's a major operation and if you tack that on at the end of 5 hours previously, with a face lift let's say, it's probably not always a very good idea.
So again, this is where common sense comes in, and this is where the surgeon has to say you know, you need a lot of this,
and maybe here's where we do have to split it up into two trips to the operating room.
Robert Kotler, MD (cont.): So, all these factors have to come into play, the length of the operation
and the nature of the operation, and the patients own particular let's say underlying, their physiology, how they are known to heal. If somebody says well I'm really a slow healer,
again you become a little more conservative.