As an independent nurse prescriber, I have been treating aesthetic patients since 2008. In December 2017, over the Christmas period, I was contacted by a local nurse practitioner who had several years’ experience in injectables. The practitioner had treated a patient’s lips with a hyaluronic acid (HA) filler 24 hours’ prior and needed help managing a vascular occlusion.
This was the 44-year-old female patient’s first lip filler treatment. Following aspiration, she was injected with 1ml in total, using a linear thread technique with a needle. At the time of the injection, the patient developed a bruise to the lip, but the practitioner stated that it didn’t appear to have any signs of vascular compromise, such as pain, discolouration or reduced capillary refill time.1
The practitioner was confident that all was fine and discharged the patient. Three hours post injection on December 23, the patient contacted the practitioner to say she had developed a…
