A woman who underwent cosmetic surgery in Brazil woke up with kleptomania, a medical study has found.

The 40-year-old patient, who had no history of mental illness or substance abuse, underwent liposuction, breast enlargement, a tummy tuck and arm lift but left the operating table with unexpected side effects.

Dr Fábio A Nascimento, a neurologist from the University of Toronto, wrote that over the following days she “started experiencing recurring intrusive thoughts and an irresistible compulsion towards stealing as well as feeling relieved after the act”.

The woman sustained temporary brain damage while undergoing cosmetic surgery. (AFP/Getty Images)

The woman was diagnosed with kleptomania or impulse control disorder but the urges disappeared weeks after the surgery.

She was caught stealing on at least one occasion, Live Science reported, but was released after doctors explained she had a temporary psychiatric condition.

According to findings published in the BMJ Case Reports journal, other symptoms included drowsiness, disorientation, apathy and memory loss associated with brain damage.

Tests confirmed that the patient had sustained a hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation during surgery.

In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery USA The USA is number one on the list of countries popular for cosmetic surgery, with a total of 1,452,356 procedures made in 2013 In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Brazil Brazil came in at number two on the list, with a total of 1,491,721 procedures in 2013 Getty Images In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Mexico Mexico hosted 486,499 cosmetic surgery procedures last year, placing it at number three on the list GETTY IMAGES In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Germany In 2013, Germany hosted 343,479 cosmetic procedures, placing it at number four on the list EPA In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Spain Spain came in at number five on the list, with 213,297 cosmetic procedures in 2013 David Ramos/Getty Images In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Colombia 291,954 people had cosmetic surgery in Columbia last year. EPA In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Italy 182,680 cosmetic surgery procedures took place in Italy last year, putting it at number seven on the list In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Venezuela Venezuela hosted 231,742 cosmetic surgery procedures in 2013, placing at number eight on the list wmf.org In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Argentina 120,652 people had cosmetic surgery in Argentina last year In pictures: Top 10 countries for cosmetic surgery Iran At the bottom of the list is Iran, with 118,079 cosmetic procedures performed in 2013 Getty Images

Dr Nascimento told Quartz that it could have been caused by deliberate hypotension, where surgeons lower a patient’s blood pressure before surgery to reduce bleeding.

“Given that the brain has high energy demands…we believe that this deliberate hypotension resulted in inadequate blood flow to her brain,” he added.

He and three other researchers from the Neurological Institute of Curitiba in Brazil found the kleptomania was most probably caused by the “failure of inhibition from the caudate nuclei over the circuitry involving the cingulate gyri and frontal areas”.