Raising patient safety
News 2011
[2011-01-28] Aesthetic surgery: European technical committee drafts on a standard.
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Work on European standards for aesthetic surgery started in Bratislava in late September 2010.
Vienna (AS prm, 2010-10-04)
The longing for physical beauty is as old as humankind. However, it has never been easier to give nature a helping hand in small or major interventions. Never before so many people were ready to travel so much for that purpose — especially if prices are lower elsewhere.
In fact, this phenomenon gives rise to a new industry — a kind of “aesthetic surgery tourism”. Sensational offers are tempting, but quality frequently falls by the wayside.
- Credit: ASI prm
In case something goes wrong, patients may not only face severe physical suffering but also financial loss and other troubles.
If complaints arise after an intervention that was performed abroad, it may be difficult, for example, to seek redress or even succeed with lawsuits — let alone language problems, lacking transparency for payment terms and contractual arrangements or open insurance issues.
Catalogues of criteria do not exist yet
What is missing is a catalogue of criteria based on independent expertise that can be used by potential patients in checking offerings for their correctness, completeness and trustworthiness and in comparing them. Patient safety is also an important field of activities for the European Commission. Standards on services in the healthcare, nursing and social sector contribute to mastering the challenges of social change in a better way.
There is definitely a need for harmonised requirements for aesthetic surgery services at the European level. Therefore, the Austrian Standards Institute (ASI) submitted a proposal to the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) asking it to set up a new project committee for developing such standards
CEN/TC 403 „Aesthetic surgery services“ held its first meeting in Bratislava on 23 and 24 September 2010.
Transparency through standards
Dr. Karl Grün, Director Development and Secretary of the newly established project committee: “Creating transparency for consumers in the grey zones of the booming market of aesthetic surgery by means of standards could become a prime example of how standards can serve as a viable alternative to detailed European legislation.”
The biggest markets world-wide are the US, China and Brazil, but other countries are catching up, with annual growth being forecast at 10 to 15 percent. In Austria, statistics on aesthetic surgery are hard to come by, but according to estimates, around 40,000 plastic/aesthetic surgery interventions are performed per year.
In the treatment of wrinkles, there is a trend towards out-patient treatments by means of Botox, hyaluronic acid and peeling. In the case of surgical interventions, liposuction takes the first place, but an increasing number of people also have breast augmentation, abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty and more on their wish list.
The media have long taken up this topic, and TV, the internet and magazines carry not only reliable and critical reports, but also disseminate superficial and misleading information. You no longer need an arduous diet to lose weight, but simply can cut off annoying fatty tissue! How about a quick Botox treatment during the lunch break or a weekend at a beauty farm with a few “improvements”? Consumers are spoilt for choice.
Realistic expectations
However, complaints become more and more frequent. Patients are not informed of risks, ugly scars remain, infections occur, implants slip out of place or are not tolerated well — there is a long list of things that may go awry.
Experienced specialists state that a comprehensive initial consultation is critical for success. Does the patient have realistic expectations or is he/she excessively concerned about a perceived defect in his/her body image (dysmorphophobia)? Not all that is feasible makes sense or is ethically justified.
Has the patient received truthful and comprehensive information on the individual steps of the intervention, possible risks and side effects? After all, surgery also involves anaesthesia, wound pain, swelling, time for healing and follow-up treatment.
Are the costs transparent? Many questions have to be answered. The selection of the right surgeon is important, too. Aesthetic surgery is not a discipline in its own right, and every medical doctor can offer such interventions, while specialist training in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery takes six years.
Nevertheless, you should not forget that aesthetic surgery is an intervention without medical indication and, hence, aims at increasing the beauty of the human body in one’s own subjective perception.
Successful start
The first meeting of CEN/TC 403 held in Bratislava on 23 and 24 September 2010 was hosted by the Slovak Society of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. At the same time, the 9th IQUAM Consensus Conference der IQUAM (International Committee for Quality Assurance, Medical Technologies & Devices in Plastic Surgery) took place in the Slovak capital.
In the plenary session, the TC’s more than 30 members already unanimously adopted the definition of aesthetic surgery and laid down the title, scope and structure of the future European standard. Four European and international organisations joined as liaison organisations.
The next meeting will take place at the Austrian Standards Institute in Vienna in January 2011.
