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American Morning

Office Surgeries

Aired November 06, 2003 - 08:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In our medical segment today, though, most cosmetic surgeries are now done in doctor's offices rather than the hospital. But recent studies raising questions about the safety of those office procedures.
Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent, chips in on this now.

Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Bill, I'm sure you've probably heard the horror stories of people who go for plastic surgery procedures in a doctor's office and terrible things happen. They have terrible side effects. Some of the patients even die.

And so, somebody actually sat down and did a study at Wake Forest University to see what the truth is: Is it more dangerous to do things in the office? First, let's take a look at where these procedures are done. When you look at plastic surgery procedures, only 28 percent are actually done in hospitals, 45 percent are done in an office, and 27 percent are done in ambulatory surgical centers, where the patient doesn't actually get admitted and spend the night.

Some of the most popular office surgeries are liposuction, surgery on the eyelids, surgery on the nose, and surgery on the breast. And what this new study found was that actually surgeries done in offices are, indeed, just as safe as those done in hospitals, despite the anecdotes.

So according to this study from Wake Forest University, you're okay when you do plastic surgeries in the office.

HEMMER: Hey, Elizabeth, there has to be certain procedures, though, that require a hospital, though, don't you think?

COHEN: Absolutely. There are some that you want to make sure that you are in a hospital. For example, if you're going to have liposuction, and you're going to have taken out of you more than 1.3 gallons of fluid and fat, you want to be in a hospital. That's a lot of fluid loss, and so you want to be in a hospital. If you're going to have anesthesia for more than four hours, you also are best off in a hospital, and that's because it takes awhile to recover from that much anesthesia. If you're going to have a tummy tuck where they're actually going to tighten your muscles, as well as do things to your fat, then again, you want to be in a hospital. And if you have special medical conditions, high blood pressure, asthma, certain heart problems, you're best off in a hospital.

HEMMER: Got it, thanks. Elizabeth Cohen.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 6, 2003 - 08:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In our medical segment today, though, most cosmetic surgeries are now done in doctor's offices rather than the hospital. But recent studies raising questions about the safety of those office procedures.
Elizabeth Cohen, our medical correspondent, chips in on this now.

Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Bill, I'm sure you've probably heard the horror stories of people who go for plastic surgery procedures in a doctor's office and terrible things happen. They have terrible side effects. Some of the patients even die.

And so, somebody actually sat down and did a study at Wake Forest University to see what the truth is: Is it more dangerous to do things in the office? First, let's take a look at where these procedures are done. When you look at plastic surgery procedures, only 28 percent are actually done in hospitals, 45 percent are done in an office, and 27 percent are done in ambulatory surgical centers, where the patient doesn't actually get admitted and spend the night.

Some of the most popular office surgeries are liposuction, surgery on the eyelids, surgery on the nose, and surgery on the breast. And what this new study found was that actually surgeries done in offices are, indeed, just as safe as those done in hospitals, despite the anecdotes.

So according to this study from Wake Forest University, you're okay when you do plastic surgeries in the office.

HEMMER: Hey, Elizabeth, there has to be certain procedures, though, that require a hospital, though, don't you think?

COHEN: Absolutely. There are some that you want to make sure that you are in a hospital. For example, if you're going to have liposuction, and you're going to have taken out of you more than 1.3 gallons of fluid and fat, you want to be in a hospital. That's a lot of fluid loss, and so you want to be in a hospital. If you're going to have anesthesia for more than four hours, you also are best off in a hospital, and that's because it takes awhile to recover from that much anesthesia. If you're going to have a tummy tuck where they're actually going to tighten your muscles, as well as do things to your fat, then again, you want to be in a hospital. And if you have special medical conditions, high blood pressure, asthma, certain heart problems, you're best off in a hospital.

HEMMER: Got it, thanks. Elizabeth Cohen.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com