The Department of Dermatology and Burns, Bach Mai Hospital recently received and treated a case of severe cosmetic complications after filler injection. The case is not only a warning to beauties but also a wake-up call about the situation of performing invasive procedures at unlicensed medical facilities.
The patient is female, 26 years old, admitted to the hospital in a state of swelling, heat, redness, and severe pain in the left thigh area. The lesion has a diameter of about 10cm, with many oozing holes on the surface, continuously flowing cloudy yellow pus.
Medical history exploitation shows that the symptoms appeared immediately after the patient performed filler injections and filler "relief" injections in the buttocks and thighs at an unlicensed beauty establishment.
To assess the extent of the injury, doctors prescribed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results showed many large abscesses at the injection site, infiltrated inflammation spreading deep into the soft tissue and adjacent muscle groups, directly affecting the patient's motor function.
According to MSc.BSNT Tran Thi Quyen (Department of Dermatology and Burns, Bach Mai Hospital), this is a serious acute infection case, with a risk of rapid progression and life-threatening if not intervened in time.
Dr. Quyen said that soft tissue abscesses after filler injections are particularly dangerous due to three main factors.
First, the risk of systemic infection. When the pus nest is not properly drained and antibiotic treatment is not followed according to the standard protocol, bacteria can enter the blood, causing septic shock, multiple organ failure - complications with a high mortality rate.
Second, deep tissue damage spreads. Abdominal abscess tends to spread along the muscle cavities, causing muscle necrosis, osteoarthritis or damage to major vascular and nerve bundles, thereby seriously threatening the patient's mobility.
Third, long-term aesthetic and functional sequelae. Even if infection is controlled, prolonged inflammation can still leave stretch marks, permanent deformation of the thigh area, accompanied by chronic pain due to sensory nerve damage.
According to MSc.BSNT Tran Thi Quyen, people who need beauty need to equip themselves with basic knowledge to protect themselves. Filler injection procedures should only be performed at hospitals or specialized dermatology and aesthetic clinics that have been licensed, by doctors with practicing certificates and a solid understanding of the injection area.
In addition, people should absolutely not use fillers or "injectable" medicines of unknown origin that have not been licensed for circulation by the Ministry of Health.
In particular, when abnormal signs appear after injection such as swelling, heat, redness, prolonged pain, patients need to immediately go to specialized medical facilities for examination and timely treatment. Continuing intervention at spas or facilities with insufficient medical capacity may cause patients to lose "golden time", increasing the risk of widespread necrosis and blood infection.
