Some plastic surgeons’ offices lining the streets of South Korea’s plastic surgery central, Gangnam district, are found to routinely violate health codes, a survey by the district office showed Sunday.
The Gangnam-gu Health Center inspected about 120 offices in the posh neighborhood from November to December, and it said the level of hygiene varied widely from clinic to clinic.
The Gangnam district, known as the world’s mecca for plastic surgery, is home to about 360 plastic surgeons’ offices with cutting-edge techniques.
But only three of the clinics surveyed owned ultraviolet sterilizers, and only two had air showers, a chamber doctors and patients enter to be decontaminated before the operation, the survey showed.
Some small-sized clinics often placed biological waste containers too close to patients’ beds, and others stored sterilized equipment and dirty equipment in the same room.
Most staff members wore the appropriate dress code for hygiene, but education about sanitation was rarely implemented. As a result, most operation rooms were kept in unsuitable temperatures and humidity levels that were prone to contamination, the health center said.
The health center said it has recently held a panel discussion to educate more than 300 plastic surgeons about sanitation.
“Enforcing a high hygiene standard is important to prevent deaths from plastic surgery,” Seo Myeong-ok, head of the health center, said. “We will inspect the remaining clinics to make sure the mecca of plastic surgery remains true to its name.” (Yonhap)
