Abstract

Liposuction is one of the most frequently performed cosmetic procedures worldwide, with a low incidence of complications and a mortality of 20 per 100 000 procedures, and when it is performed in conjunction with gluteal lipoinjection, the main cause of death is fat embolism. This article presents a case of a 32-year-old female, with no known chronic pathologies, who was attended at a medical center to undergo liposuction with gluteal lipoinjection and died almost at the end of the surgery; In the Medico-Legal autopsy, the presence of adipose-like material was observed in the main trunk of the pulmonary artery and in its ramifications, in which the lumen was completely obstructed, a histopathological study confirmed the diagnosis of fat embolism, which was established as the cause of death. A review of the literature about fat embolism associated with liposuction with gluteal lipoinjection was made.

Key words: Fat embolism; liposuction; lipoinjection; medicolegal autopsy.