Serious vascular embolic complications may occur with any kind of filler, even if its biocompatibility is otherwise good.
Injections of dermal fillers have shown tremendous year–on- year growth since their introduction.
Although dermal necrosis has been reported with HA fillers, this adverse event is typically far less severe with HA fillers than with non –HA fillers (with prompt diagnosis and treatment).
Anatomy and Filler Complications emphasizes on the importance in training and educating physicians.
Prevention is the only recourse, as it will be discussed extensively in this book
A simple means of grouping the various types of adverse events seen in the clinical practice is helpful for practitioners, since it helps to organize the thought process when considering the differential diagnosis and planning treatment strategies in a clinical setting.
Training and education of physician is a MUST. With excellent training and hands-on experience, most physicians can learn to be safe and effective practitioners.
Always use checklists when performing your patient evaluation, and especially when discussing risks and complications. Standardized documentation prior to treatment is not an optional component, there is only one opportunity to obtain pre-treatment photographs.
Detailed knowledge of facial anatomy and of its danger zones constitutes an essential element in the prevention of complications. In this chapter, accurate descriptions of the main arterial, venous and nervous structures of the face concerned by the risk of injury are to be found.
There are NO zero risks areas for injection. Therefore, it is very useful to have in mind an image of the approximate boundaries of the major vessels. After reviewing a few of the anatomy highlights, this chapter enumerates the mitigation of risk by using specific strategies during injection.
Unwanted results after the injection of fillers are usually due to overcorrection and/or erroneous placement. Fillers that are brought to the market without sufficient clinical data appear to be more likely to elicit these reactions.
This chapter is a compilation of photos showing various types of adverse events which have been discussed in the previous chapters.