Are TV Shows Helping Encourage Multiple Cosmetic Procedures?

Feb. 27 -- Have extreme makeovers — combo face-lifts, tummy tucks, liposuction and more — left Hollywood and gone Main Street?

Apparently thanks to numerous prime-time television shows devoted to the world of personal cosmetic upgrades, plastic surgeons from across the country are reporting an increase in the number of requests for multiple operations, the type seen on popular programs like ABC’s Extreme Makeover.

“I have seen an increase in the number of patients requesting multiple procedures over the last year,” says Dr. Michael Olding, chief of plastic surgery at George Washington University Medical Center. Several other surgeons contacted by ABCNEWS.com confirm the trend.

Not only are patients requesting more operations, they are increasingly particular about the exact procedures they want performed.

“Patients used to come to the office with a specific complaint, for example, ‘I look tired,’” says Olding. “Now they request particular procedures, for example, ‘I need a blepharoplasty [eyelid surgery], face-lift, and chin implant, and I was thinking about thigh liposuction.’”

Risky Business?

But even as more patients request more than one cosmetic procedure at a time, doctors are wary of the risks of performing several simultaneous surgeries.

“Many of my patients will ask for multiple procedures to be done at the same time. The key determinant about whether that should be done or not is safety,” says Dr. John Anastasatos, professor of plastic surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“As these are outpatient procedures and often done under general anesthesia, I don’t like to exceed six hours of operating time,” explains Anastasatos. “The risk of postoperative complications increases if one does so.”

That’s because general anesthesia has a strong effect on the cardiovascular system.