Circulation 60,475 • Volume 14, No. 4 • Winter 1999

A Chilling Experience

Eva H. Henriksen,M.D.

To the Editor

In the Summer [and Fall also -Ed.] issue[s] of the APSF Newsletter, liposuction dangers are considered in letters to the Editor. If one removes about 5 liters of solution directly from the refrigerator, and injects it under the skin of 60% of the patient’s body surface in order to perform extensive liposuction, why does no one monitor patient temperature (it is a vital sign!), or mention probable hypothermia as a contributor to patient complications and even death, along with consideration of the overdoses of local anesthetic and epinephrine?

Eva H. Henriksen,M.D. Los Angeles, CA