The top five non surgical procedures are: toxins or neuromodulators injections (Botox, Dysport) (32.7%), hyaluronic acid injections (20.1%), laser hair removal (13.1%), autologous fat injections (taking a patient's fat from one location and transferring it in the same patient in another location) (5.9%) and IP Laser treatment (4.4%).

The countries where non surgical procedures were performed were dominated by the United States, Brazil, Mexico and China and to a lesser extent by Japan, Hungary, South Korea, India and Germany.


Grand Totals - Finally a Credible Baseline

The ISAPS Global Survey also establishes several important statistics with regard to the total number of board certified (or national equivalent) plastic surgeons practicing today; estimated to be 30,817. The total number of surgical procedures is projected to be 8,536,379 and the number of non surgical procedures is estimated at 8,759,187 - bringing the combined worldwide total of surgical and non surgical procedures performed by board certified plastic surgeons to: 17,295,557. (This figure does not take into account surgical and non surgical procedures performed by non plastic surgeons.)

Dr. Jan Poell of Switzerland, the incoming President of ISAPS, observed that, "The statistics revealed from the ISAPS Global Survey represent the first credible and reliable baseline of information in the field. This is valuable information that will be used by medical professionals and media as an indispensable tool for calculating developments within our specialty and general trends, long before governments or industry have amassed this data."

Methodology

"Calculating plastic surgery surgical and non surgical procedures throughout the world was a complex and challenging initiative," noted Dr. Sampaio Goes of Brazil, an ISAPS Past President and Chairman of the ISAPS Communication Committee which oversaw this Survey. "We chose a respected survey company with extensive experience in plastic surgery, and the results they produced are credible, scientifically significant and will influence the profession for years to come."

The ISAPS Biennial Global Survey was compiled, tabulated, and analyzed by Industry Insights, Inc. (www.industryinsights.com) an independent research firm based in Columbus, Ohio in the United States. The Survey leader was Scott Hackworth, a Certified Public Accountant who along with firm has conducted various forms of research on trends in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for nearly 15 years.

Participants in the Survey completed a two-page, English-based questionnaire that focused on the number of surgical and non-surgical procedures they performed in 2009. ISAPS issued an invitation to participate in the study to approximately 20,000 Plastic Surgeons whose contact information is housed in ISAPS proprietary database. In addition, a request was made that all National Societies encourage their members to take part in the survey.

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