Surgeon says 'SORRY' for botched operation on South Korean actress Han Ye-seul, what's gone wrong?

Han Ye-seul
Han Ye-seul operation Reuters

A surgeon apologised to South Korean Actress Han Ye-seul in an interview uploaded on YouTube Saturday, April 21 for performing a botched operation, after she had gone under the knife for lipoma removal procedure.

In her apology, doctor Lee Ji-hyun from Cha Medical Center in Gangnam has accepted that when he was removing the lipoma, the skin of the 36-year-old actress was damaged from inside.

Lipoma is a fatty lump most often situated between the skin and underlying muscle layer. Though they're classified as harmless tumours. They commonly occur in the neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, arms and thighs.

The doctor said that it was easier to remove a tumour if the surgery was done right around the lipoma, but "considering that she is an actress, I suggested removing it from below, (so) she could cover up the scar with clothing."

But as per the Korean Herald, things went wrong when the electric knife cut through the skin from below during the lipoma removal procedure. Later, Lee stated that he did not graft skin tissues from the other body parts or a donor.

In addition to it, Lee said that it was a bad decision to proceed with such an operation and "I am very sorry. I would like to hereby apologize to Han Ye-seul once more."

The glamorous actress, who performed in several television dramas such as Couple or Trouble, Tazza, and Birth of a Beauty, as well as in the films Miss Gold Digger and Penny Pinchers, has been transferred to another hospital, which specializes in rehabilitation of burned skin. She will be receiving required medical treatment to minimize the scar.

On the other hand, the medical centre, where Han went for the surgery said in a statement that they will compensate the actress for the medical complication.

Han Ye-seul
Instagram
Han Ye-seul
Instagram(Note: The image has been blurred)

Usually, lipoma appears as small, soft lumps, which are less than 2 inches wide. It could be moved by using finger pressure. Most of the times doctors don't proceed with a treatment, but if the lipoma is bothersome, painful or growing, surgical removal may be required.