Are older patients more at risk for complications after facelift surgery than younger patients? Not if the older patients are properly screened, according to a new study that found complication rates were not statistically different when comparing older facelift patients to younger ones, suggesting that age alone is not an independent risk factor for facelift surgery.
Researchers performed a retrospective study of 216 women who had a facelift between 2005 and 2008 by a single surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. The patients were divided into two groups by age: those under 65 (148 patients) and those 65 and older (68 patients). The average age was 57 in the younger group and 70 in the older group.
“Facelift surgery in the elderly has always been perceived to carry more post-operative risk,” said Dr. James Zins, Chairman of Plastic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. “According to our study and pre-operative screenings, patients over 65 had no statistically significant increase in complications.”
Over 12 percent of the U.S. population is older than 65, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as this population grows, most likely the number of older people seeking cosmetic surgery will grow as well.
The study also found that the older patients were more likely to have a higher ASA (overall health status) score — which assesses the physical status of patients before surgery — than the younger patients.
“It should not be generalized from the study that elderly patients can undergo a facelift operation with the same low complication rate as seen in the younger age group,” said Dr. Zins. “Careful screening of the elderly patients and excluding those with significant co-morbidities led to the low complication rate.”
The researchers said more studies are needed to define whether an age limit for safe facelift surgery beyond age 65 exists.
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