Older females undergoing facial cosmetic surgery commonly use herbal supplements, according to a recent study.
Researchers with Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, retrospectively reviewed the charts of 200 patients ages 15 and older who underwent facial cosmetic surgery with one surgeon. The patients were classified as herbal supplement users or nonherbal supplement users.
Upon analysis, the researchers found that cosmetic surgery patients are more likely then general surgery patients to be taking some kind of supplement. Nearly half (49 percent) of the patients in this study used some type of supplement and were classified as herbal supplement users. Of these, one quarter (24.5 percent) used vitamins or minerals, 2.5 percent used animal- and plant-based supplements, and 22 percent used both. The most common supplements recorded were vitamin D (n=52), multivitamins (n=51), calcium (n=35), fish oil or omega-3 fatty acids (n=28), and vitamin B (n=27), the authors reported.
Dietary supplements that can increase the risk of bleeding, including bilberry, bromelain, fish oil, flax seed oil, garlic, methylsulfonylmethane, selenium, and vitamin E, were reported 45 times in 35 patients, according to the authors.
Among those who used herbal supplements, the average number used was 2.8 supplements, the majority (89.8 percent) of patients were female with an average age of 51.4 compared with the nonherbal group, which consisted of 77.5 percent female patients who averaged 38.5 years, according to the abstract.
The data suggest that nearly 20 percent of all patients in this study and 35.7 percent of those classified as herbal supplement users would have been at risk for bleeding if not advised to stop the use of these specific supplements prior to surgery, the authors advised.
"Considering the potential ill effects of these products on surgery and recovery, awareness and careful documentation and prohibiting the patients from the consumption of these products will increase the safety and reduce the recovery following cosmetic procedures," the authors wrote.
The study was published in the July issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
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