A superbug infection associated with face lifts?

Face lift is a popular surgical procedure preferred by many people who and want to look younger and more beautiful in their advancing years. It lifts up the facial skin and tissues and/or the underlying muscle, to make the face tighter and smoother. Face lift addresses the problems of sagging skin, loose jowls and bags under the eyes and improves much of the damage done by ageing. But one should be wary of the risks and the side-effects as well.

A recent news report mentions about a dangerous superbug infection associated with face lifts.

A dangerous drug-resistant bacterial infection has been showing up in a small number of patients who undergo facelifts, doctors reported on Monday. When infections do occur at surgical sites following such procedures “the facial plastic surgeon should have a high suspicion” for MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), as the source, they said.

It has become the most common cause of all infections at surgical incision sites, and about 85 percent of cases happen in hospitals where the infection can kill the weak.

“It’s not surprising that it has been found in cosmetic surgery,” Dr. Rosenberg said in an interview; adding that the study was the first to confirm it.

He said follow-up research he and Zoumalan have done has found no additional cases of MRSA in face-lift surgeries where the skin was pre-treated to kill the bacteria.

Since people enter hospitals with the bacteria, he said, “the emphasis has to be on pre-treatment.”

The report published in the current issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery said doctors who perform face-lifts may want to start screening patients to track down those who may be at risk.

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