I am not a fan of medical tourism, especially as it pertains to plastic surgery. In my opinion, American plastic surgeons are the best trained in the world. That’s not to say there are no good plastic surgeons around the world, including Turkey. There are many qualified plastic surgeons in Turkey who attend our conferences and are often American-trained.
However, the big attraction for having plastic surgery outside of America is the cost. They are usually cheaper. But when you add travel, cost, and hotel bills, the price will approach the best American plastic surgeons in this country.
Often a patient will return from Turkey or other countries with a complication, and they call and ask if we would take care of that complication. Most of the time we advise them to return to their original operating surgeon.
Medical Tourism
Infection and bleeding can be life-threatening, and the patients should rely upon their operating surgeon to take care of any complications. The accreditation process, and the licensing process for both the doctors, the personnel, and especially the facility in Turkey is not always known. Therefore, there’s an unknown level of risk that the patients must endure for general anesthesia and the procedure.
I see some of the postop photos, especially noses from Turkey, and they all seem quite elegant and excellent. However, everyone can’t have a perfect nose and it looks like many of their Instagram posts in the photos may be photoshopped and or filtered.
We see patients often – who had their noses done in Turkey with far less than optimal results, although the galleries for these doctors, seem perfect – quite questionable. And or filtered.
Therefore, I question the safety and validity of traveling outside the United States for any plastic surgery especially RHINOPLASTY. American plastic surgeons are the best trained in the world and if experienced in RHINOPLASTY, that’s where you should go.
THOMAS TREVISANI, MD
BOARD-CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AESTHETIC PLASTIC SURGERY
