Woman in Ho Chi Minh City suffers body deformity due to cheap collagen filler injections

(Dan Tri) - After injecting cheap "multi-layer collagen filler", the patient had to be hospitalized with deformed buttocks and severe pain.

On September 9, Dr. Nguyen Phan Tu Dung, the professional director of a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said that recently, this place had consecutively treated two patients with buttock necrosis due to cheap "multi-layer collagen filler" injections.

The first case was a woman named T. (33 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) who was hospitalized with a swollen, shiny, purple-red, and severely painful left buttock, making it difficult to sit or walk.

Ultrasound and clinical examination results showed that the patient's buttocks had many patchy bruises, edematous lesions, loss of physiological elasticity, and some areas were suspected of being ischemic and necrotic.

When the doctor presses on the abnormal area to examine, the patient experiences severe pain, an abnormal hard tissue area, a risk of deep abscess formation, and the possibility of widespread infection.

MRI image of patient's buttock abscess (Photo: Hospital).

MRI scans revealed a huge abscess in the woman’s buttocks measuring 20cm long and 15cm thick, forming honeycomb cavities in the muscle tissue. This is a rare and extremely dangerous complication that can be life-threatening if not treated promptly.

Taking a medical history, Ms. T. said that after injecting multi-layer collagen filler to beautify her buttocks, 2 months ago , the injection site began to show signs of pain, unusual swelling and redness. Her family took her to an imaging center for examination and was advised to transfer her to a specialized facility for treatment.

Faced with the patient's critical condition, the doctors planned an emergency surgery. The entire abscess was thoroughly drained, continuously irrigated, and all filler and necrotic tissue were removed. The surgery removed nearly 2,500 ml of pus mixed with necrotic tissue.

The patient then continued to receive high-dose antibiotics combined with negative pressure VAC suction to drain the pus. This process needed to be maintained for at least 7 days, while closely monitoring the risk of infection and spreading necrosis.

Surgeons rescue woman's buttocks from complications (Photo: Hospital).

The second case is a female patient from an ethnic minority, who also had “multi-layered filler” injections to plump up her buttocks at a spa. After more than a year of filler injections, her buttocks showed signs of stiffness and pain to the point that she “couldn’t walk or sit.”

She went to a cosmetic facility to have silicone removed and butt implants placed, but after a while she felt pain and swelling again.

At the hospital, after performing all the diagnostic imaging tests for the patient (including MRI, AI ultrasound, etc.), Dr. Tu Dung determined that the filler had not been completely resolved, there were still residues inside the buttocks, and many lumps appeared scattered all over the patient's buttocks.

“These unknown substances can cause a prolonged inflammatory reaction, causing pain and swelling that recurs many times. In some cases, if left untreated for a long time, it can lead to the formation of granulomas and sclerosis, which are very difficult to treat completely,” the doctor analyzed.

The doctor removed a strange lumpy substance from the patient's buttocks (Photo: Hospital).

After 3 hours of surgery, the medical team removed dozens of discolored, sticky, and bloody filler particles from the patient's buttocks.

It is expected that the patient will continue to undergo a second surgery to completely treat the complications.

Doctor Tu Dung warns that strange substances advertised as fillers, “multi-layer substances”, and collagen of unknown origin, when injected into the body, can penetrate deep into the muscles, cause abscesses, necrosis, and even threaten the patient's life.

“People absolutely should not inject fillers at spas or unlicensed beauty facilities. All beauty needs must be performed at specialized hospitals, with well-trained doctors and medical- standard materials,” the doctor advised.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/nguoi-phu-nu-o-tphcm-bi-bien-dang-co-the-vi-tiem-filler-collagen-gia-re-20250909145108292.htm