A case has been revealed where a part of an instrument used in a past cosmetic surgery was found inside the face of a woman in her 40s who visited the hospital due to ongoing discomfort under her chin.
Medical staff from Tehran University of Medical Sciences reported this woman's case on the 2nd through 'Clinical Case Reports'.
A 42-year-old woman residing in Iran underwent liposuction under her chin for cosmetic purposes 10 months ago. However, she recently felt a hard band forming under her chin and occasionally experienced slight pain and discomfort, prompting her to seek medical attention.
The medical staff took an X-ray of the woman's neck and observed a foreign object in front of her hyoid bone (a small bone in the front of the neck that supports the tongue and larynx). They made a small incision under local anesthesia and removed the foreign object. The object was the end of a liposuction cannula, approximately 2cm in size.
A cannula is a hollow stainless steel tube inserted into the fat layer to break up and suction out fat. It is long and thin, with holes at the end or side. The diameter varies from about 2 to 5mm depending on the area or purpose. Fortunately, after the removal of the foreign object through surgery, the woman's symptoms completely disappeared within two weeks.
The medical staff at Tehran University of Medical Sciences stated, "Liposuction is generally considered a safe cosmetic procedure because it uses a blunt-ended cannula that is manipulated by hand," but also noted, "The end of the cannula can break for various reasons, including structural defects and the skill of the surgeon."
They further emphasized, "When unexplained skin conditions arise after invasive surgeries like liposuction, especially when there is no reasonable diagnosis or the symptoms do not resolve naturally, one should suspect that a part of the surgical instrument may have been left behind."
