NYC Plastic Surgery Blog

Liposuction and breast augmentation were the most popular plastic surgery procedures performed worldwide in 2009, according to statistics released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), with more than one million each performed by plastic surgeons.

Blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, was the third most popular plastic surgery procedure internationally, also breaking the one million mark according to survey results. Rounding out the top most popular procedures were rhinoplasty, abdominoplasty, or tummy tuck, and breast reduction, which were each performed on more than half a million patients across the globe in 2009.

It is not surprising that patients seek these body contouring and facial plastic surgery procedures above all others regardless of their nationality, as problems like stubborn fat deposits, loose abdominal skin, small breasts, drooping eyelids and nasal imperfections are truly universal and occur as a natural result of aging in men and women in every part of the world.

Patients in the U.S. were most likely to undergo plastic surgery last year, and U.S. plastic surgeons performed more than 15 percent of the world’s surgical procedures. More than one million patients sought surgical procedures in not only the U.S., but also in China and Brazil, however the U.S. ranked first for total procedures performed by plastic surgeons in 2009 with 1.3 million.

India and Mexico ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, however plastic surgeons in each of these countries performed more than half a million fewer procedures than plastic surgeons in third-ranked Brazil.

Unlike plastic surgeons in most other countries, U.S. plastic surgeons performed more non-surgical procedures than surgical procedures in 2009, including Botox and Dysport injections, laser hair removal, Juvederm and Restylane injections and vein treatments.

Wrinkle-relaxing injections with Botox and Dysport, as well as hyaluronic acid filler injections were the most popular non-surgical procedures administered internationally by plastic surgeons last year, but other injectables, including Radiesse, Sculptra and collagen products were not as popular.

This statistical data was collected from surveys sent to more than 30,000 plastic surgeons in 25 countries by the ISAPS organization.