Patient factors influencing dermal filler complications: prevention, assessment, and treatment

Abstract

While rare, complications do occur with the esthetic use of dermal fillers. Careful attention to patient factors and technique can do much to avoid these complications, and a well-informed practitioner can mitigate problems when they do occur. Since cosmetic surgery is usually an elective process, requested by the patient, clinical trials are complex to organize and run. For this reason, an international group of practicing physicians in the field of esthetics came together to share knowledge and to try and produce some informed guidance for their colleagues, considering the literature and also pooling their own extensive clinical experience. This manuscript aims to summarize the crucial aspects of patient selection, including absolute contraindications as well as situations that warrant caution, and also covers important considerations for the pre- and posttreatment periods as well as during the procedure itself. Guidance is given on both immediate and long-term management of adverse reactions. The majority of complications are related to accepting patients inappropriate for treatment or issues of sterility, placement, volume, and injection technique. It is clear that esthetic practitioners need an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of treatment with dermal fillers to achieve optimal outcomes for their patients.

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Keywords:

• dermal fillers
• complications
• prevention
• assessment
• treatment
• patient factors

Acknowledgments

The manuscript development was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Allergan Inc. The authors would also like to acknowledge the International consensus group: Radina Denkova, Bulgaria; Renata Handlova, Czech Republic; Dimitrios Sykianakis, Greece; Eyal Kramer, Israel; Greta Valanciene, Lithuania; Sylwia Lipko-Godlewska, Poland; Madalina Ciupan, Viviana Iordache, Romania; Ekaterian Gutop, Elena Razumovskaya, Olga Zabnenkova, Russia; Marshall Murdoch, Albertus Niemann, Daniel Nortje, Martina van der Mescht, South Africa; Tunc Tiryaki, Gun Ersu, Ulvi Guner, Alpalan Topcu, Serhan Tuncer, Turkey; Oleksamdr Turkevych, Ukraine.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.