Background:The aesthetic non-surgical sector has expanded rapidly, with increasing procedural uptake driven by social media visibility, evolving demographics, and commercial accessibility.Regulatory structures have lagged behind growth, and litigation is predominantly communication-driven. Methods: A structured literature review (2000-2023) was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar.Regulatory documents, professional guidelines, psychological studies, and medico-legal case analyses were included.Data were synthesised thematically to identify recurrent domains of medico-legal vulnerability.Results: Six interdependent risk domains were identified: Practitioner governance, psychological screening and patient selection, informed consent, documentation, complication preparedness, and complaint escalation.Severe complications such as vascular occlusion and blindness are rare, but litigation is often driven by communication failures and unmet expectations.Conclusion: A structured medico-legal governance algorithm integrating credential verification, psychological assessment, enhanced staged consent, emergency preparedness, and audit offers a defensible and patient-centred framework.
Franks et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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