Gluteoplasty Complications Claim Solange Magnano

The former Miss Argentina of 1994, Solange Magnano, died on November 29 due to complications associated with a cosmetic surgery procedure called gluteoplasty. The 37-year-old mother of twins suffered a pulmonary embolism after the surgical procedure.

Solange Magnano, who ran her own modeling agency, underwent gluteoplasty on Wednesday November 25 at a clinic in Buenos Aires. Argentina is a medical tourism mecca for cosmetic surgery procedures because people can get plastic surgery performed for a fraction of the cost in other countries. A search of the Internet for gluteoplasty prices reveals that medical tourists can get the procedure for less than half the cost in the US.

Gluteoplasty involves implanting silicon implants into the buttocks to make them look fuller and more prominent. Although it is typically performed purely for cosmetic reasons, it can also be helpful for individuals who have a deformity or atrophy of the buttocks because of disease. The cosmetic procedure is becoming more and more popular in recent years.

Silicon implants come in various shapes and sizes, and surgeons choose the best fit for the client. The surgery is performed under general anesthesia and usually lasts one hour and a half to two hours. The implants are inserted under the gluteus maximus muscle or into the upper part of the buttocks under the fatty folds. Patients should not sit on their buttocks for about two weeks postsurgery.

Complications following gluteoplasty may include infection of the prosthesis and wound abscess. In Solange Magnano’s case, the fluids injected during the procedure reportedly went to her brain and lungs, causing acute respiratory deficiency and then the pulmonary embolism.

SOURCES:
Horn G. Ann Chir Plast Esthet 2009 Oct; 54(5): 467-76
New York Daily News, Dec. 1, 2009
UPI, December 1, 2009