Value of aspiration as a safety test examined in study
Published
09th Feb 2018
Embolism due to accidental intra-arterial injection of a soft tissue filler (STF) can lead to serious complications. As such, a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology has examined the value of aspiration as a safety test when injecting STFs. The study also considered the rheological properties of different STFs and their needle dimensions.
A total of 340 individual aspiration tests were performed with 24 different STFs and 11 different needles. From these tests 112 yielded true-positive results within one second of aspiration and 128 yielded false-negative results after 10 seconds. Positive results between one and 10 seconds were seen in 101 aspiration tests.
The authors noted that aspiration test results were influenced by needle diameter, needle length and rheological properties of STFs and said that additional safety measures are necessary to further reduce the risk of inadvertent intravascular injection of STFs.
