11.5 Million Cosmetic Procedures in 2005; American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Reports 1 Percent Increase in Surgical Procedures

NEW YORK -- Nearly 11.5 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2005, according to statistics released by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Compared to 2004, surgical procedures increased 1 percent to 2.1 million, while nonsurgical procedures declined 4 percent to 9.3 million. ASAPS, which has been collecting multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997, says the overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 222 percent since the collection of the statistics began. The most frequently performed procedure was Botox injections and the most popular surgical procedure was liposuction.

"The surgical portion of the statistics show interesting results in the breast augmentation and breast lift areas," said ASAPS president Mark L. Jewell, MD. "While some procedures are down, these areas continue to increase; breast augmentation by 9 percent and breast lift by 23 percent. This also marks the first year that we have segmented the device used for breast augmentation, saline or silicone.  This should give us significant trending data when silicone devices are approved by the FDA."

Just over 48 percent of cosmetic procedures in 2005 were performed in office-based facilities, 27.9 percent in freestanding surgery centers, and 23.8 percent in hospitals. Americans spent just under $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures; $8.2 billion was for surgical procedures, and $4.2 billion was for non-surgical procedures.

Source: American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery