Risk factors for increased postoperative morbidity in patients undergoing plastic surgery

Plastic surgery (PS) encompasses some of the most mon surgical procedures worldwide. Patients undergoing this type of procedure tend to present a low incidence of minor complications. However, it has been noted that more invasive procedures, met-abolic comorbidities, obesity, chronic kidney disease, and lifestyle habits may significantly influence the develop-ment of severe complications such as venous thromboem-bolism, stroke, and tissue necrosis post-PS. Thus, an ex-haustive assessment of patients is recommended in order to appropriately stratify their morbidity risk. This would allow an opportune perioperative management conducive to a reduction of complications post-PS, which includes lifestyle changes and preventive strategies such as antibi-otic therapy and thromboprophylaxis. Nevertheless, fur-ther research is necessary in this area to develop effec-tive and specific guidelines for preventive and therapeutic management for patients at risk undergoing various types of PS. Therefore, the objective of this article is to describe the clinical evidence on the various risk factors associated with the incidence of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing PS and to discuss the possible perioperative therapeutic strategies available to ameliorate these issues.