MULTIPLE U.S. STATES — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study analyzing adverse outcomes among U.S. residents who traveled for cosmetic procedures between 2014 and 2024. The study, titled Adverse Outcomes of Travel-Related Cosmetic Procedures among US Residents, 2014–2024, appeared in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Researchers reviewed 2,162 Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion consultation records from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2024. The review aimed to identify incidents involving U.S. residents who traveled for cosmetic procedures and experienced adverse outcomes. Consultations were included if procedures occurred domestically or internationally and resulted in patient harm; cases involving nonmedical travel, incidental care, reconstructive surgery, or bariatric procedures were excluded. Of the reviewed consultations, 34 involved patients who traveled for medical care. In total, 21 consultations involving approximately 145 patients met the inclusion criteria for cosmetic procedures.
Among the qualifying consultations, 17 involved international travel, and 4 involved domestic travel within the U.S. In 16 consultations, patients underwent multiple cosmetic procedures. Liposuction and abdominoplasty were the most frequently documented procedures, appearing in 12 and 9 consultations, respectively. Patient counts per consultation ranged from 1 to 38, with single-patient cases occurring in 12 consultations. Additionally, 7 consultations described clusters of 2 to 20 patients from multiple states who received procedures from the same provider or at the same location.
Postsurgical infections were documented in 20 consultations. This included 12 consultations with confirmed nontuberculous mycobacteria infections and 1 with a suspected nontuberculous mycobacteria infection. Surgery centers or clinics were the most frequently implicated healthcare settings in the reported infections. Patient fatalities were reported in 4 consultations; not all fatalities were necessarily linked to infection-related complications.
Infection prevention and control assessments were available for 1 domestic and 1 international consultation. These assessments identified deficiencies in several areas, including environmental cleaning, personal protective equipment use, hand hygiene practices, and surgical equipment reprocessing. The study noted that fragmented reporting and patients crossing jurisdictional boundaries make outbreaks associated with cosmetic medical tourism difficult to detect and investigate. The study findings are based on CDC consultations requested by health departments and do not represent all adverse outcomes associated with cosmetic medical tourism.