Liposuction

Liposuction NJ

In 1982, a French doctor by the name of Gerard Illouz presented thousands of cases of liposuction in the plastic surgery meeting in Honolulu to American plastic surgeons. I was amazed by this incredible procedure, but the established plastic surgeons didn’t accept and adopt it immediately. At the time, no one believed we could sculpt the fat.

A group of lesser known plastic surgeons adopted the procedure and formed their own society (The Lipoplasty Society of North America). I was a member of that society and used to go to their meetings. Gradually, as all plastic surgeons understood the value of lipoplasty, there was no reason for a separate society. Over the years, additional contributions have been made to liposuction to make it safer and more successful. The most important of these contributions is the addition of the wetting solution. This is where a solution of salt water and dilute local anesthetic with a vasoconstrictor; epinephrine is injected first with a very fine cannula to provide local anesthesia and shrink the blood vessels. The super wet or the tumescent technique is similar, but usually more solution is injected than aspirated.

Laser Lipo

These techniques allowed the operation to be done with very little blood loss and no need for transfusion which was common with the earlier techniques. This was a major advancement, but like the liposuction itself, was very low tech and ingenious. The other advances, like the addition of ultrasound or laser, are not so important and have few applications. There is an enormous push from the industry to make the laser liposuction appear as if it were a state-of-the-art procedure. These manufacturers are conducting a huge marketing campaign to convince every plastic surgeon to buy their machine. At this time, there is no proven benefit for the laser or even the ultrasound liposuction and I believe they are not worth the additional cost, danger and complication rate.

Liposuction Surgery

Today, liposuction is the most common plastic surgery procedure. For me, the liposuction cannula is a tool that I use for many procedures, from reconstructive to cosmetic, from facial surgery to the surgery of the breasts and body contouring. Liposuction is a great procedure that removes the fat and preserves the nerves and vessels. The fat can be used for grafting to other areas. It has been shown that the fat removed by liposuction has stem cells that can help reverse the bad effects of radiation.

Liposuction and fat grafting allows us to do thorough body sculpting. For example, fat can be removed from the hips and flanks to accentuate the shape of the buttocks for additional buttock enhancement, and the fat can be transferred to that region.

The best candidates for liposuction are patients with good quality and tight skin. In these cases, mild redundancy in skin can retract and a smooth contour can be achieved. Loose skin with stretch marks is a relative contraindication to liposuction alone. The judgment of when and where to do liposuction are the most important elements of successful results. Stay away from outfits that promote the use of laser or ultrasound as a way of promoting themselves. There is no proof that the so called “smart lipo” (laser assisted liposuction) gives any better result than a careful tumescent liposuction. No one needs the added cost, the added length of surgery and the complications.

Smaller liposuctions can be done under local anesthesia without the need for heavy sedation in our office in Morristown New Jersey.

For additional information see our Blog for Dr Rafizadeh’s Classification of treatment area of lower back an buttocks aesthetics including his rules and the golden ratio finding.