New rules proposed for plastic surgeons posting surgery on social media

Guidelines for how surgeons should behave on social media have been published in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal in a bid to address what has been described as “circus”-like behavior from some practitioners.

Streaming or posting on social media during live surgery has become an increasingly popular trend but there has been no regulation or direction regarding what is appropriate or allowed.

Examples cited in the paper included a plastic surgeon cradling fat removed from a tummy-tuck in his arms like a baby and then putting a baby face on it using a Snapchat filter. Other doctors dressed in costumes, danced and flaunted removed body tissue on camera.

Proposed guidelines include obtaining written consent from patients before posting their operations on social media channels and informing patients that they have the right to refuse or change their mind regarding online posts.

Surgeons are already required to obtain consent before posting identifying videos and photos of patients, but the authors question the validity of the consent due to the power dynamics in patient-doctor relationships.

“There is increasingly vulgar content by a growing number of plastic surgeons,” said senior author Dr Clark Schierle, a faculty member of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We want to create guidelines that balance the need for plastic surgeons to post on social media, but we also want to maintain some element of professionalism.”