Dr Michael Kaplan - Missouri Liposuction

Liposuction is the convenient and highly popular medical procedure that removes fat from virtually anywhere on the human body. This procedure is also known as lipoplasty (or fat modeling), liposculpture, suction lipectomy, or simply lipo. Liposuction is not a method of weight loss, as less than ten pounds are removed on the average procedure, but is rather a form of body contouring and sculpture. There are several factors which limit the amount of fat that can safely be removed during a session, though specifics such as that are agreed on by doctor and patient from a case-to-case basis. There is an increased risk when more fat is being extracted (lumpiness or dented looks in the skin, etc).

This is actually a fairly simple procedure that also allows the patient to receive only local or general anesthesia, but it is important to note that, like most surgeries, it is best if the patient is in good overall health beforehand. In most cases, liposuction is performed on the abdomen and thighs in women, and the abdomen and flanks in men (liposuction was also the most common plastic surgery procedure performed in 2006 with 403,684 patients). Again, liposuction is not an alternative to exercise and diet and these should be tried first with full effort, and not everyone even then is a good candidate for lipo. Some cases where patients have less elastic skin (such as in older people), other procedures can be added to receive the desired end result, such as the "tummy tuck" (abdominalplasty). Basically, the surgical challenge of liposuction is, 1) to remove the right amount of fat, 2) cause the least disturbance of neighboring tissue, 3) leave the patient’s fluid balance undisturbed, and 4) cause the least discomfort to both patient ant surgeon.

Techniques vary, but include fat being removed using a cannula (hollow tube) and a suction device called an aspirator. These techniques can also be further categorized by the amount of fluid injected. wet liposuction is when a small amount of fluid containing lidocaine, epinephrine, and a salt solution is injected to form a kind of saline so fat cells are easily removed without much bruising. In super wet liposuction, the fluid created to inject is equal to the amount of fat taken out, which is widely used because it better balances homeostasis and potential fluid overload. Tumescent liposuction is the precursor of wet lipo and the surgeon injects a solution directly into the fat to be removed. Laser assisted liposuction uses thermal energy to affect lipolysis.