Liposuction involves the surgical suctioning of fat deposits from specific parts of the body. The most common target areas are the abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, chin, upper arms, back, and calves. Liposuction is now the most common cosmetic surgery in the U. S. with over 400,000 of these procedures done annually.
Liposuction breaks up and "sucks" fat out of the body through a hollow instrument (a cannula) inserted under the skin (subdermally). A strong vacuum is applied to the cannula.
Also called lipoplasty, liposculpture or suction lipectomy, liposuction is designed to remove areas of excess body fat in order to re-shape the body. Liposuction is not designed to treat or reduce obesity. It is a cosmetic surgical procedure. Also, lipoplasty should not be confused with bariatric plastic surgery operations, such as abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). These plastic surgery procedures remove excess fat and skin and tighten loose muscle, whereas liposuction only removes fat. The main types of lipoplasty include: superwet, tumescent or ultrasound liposuction.
A lipoplasty surgeon uses a small probe called a "cannula", which is attached to a suction pump. After injecting medical fluid into the area of subcutaneous excess fat to reduce bleeding and increase the anesthesia, the cannula is used to suck out the surplus adipose tissue.
Ideal candidates for liposuction are patients of normal weight who have localized pockets of surplus fat. Lipoplasty is not intended as a means to lose weight. Furthermore, there are limits on the amount of body fat that can safely be suctioned in one session. About 10 pounds seems to be the limit.
Post-operative complications include infection, puffiness and numbness in the vacuumed area, significant amounts of baggy skin, with rare cases of organ puncture or pulmonary embolism. However, liposuction is becoming a very common and safe surgical procedure.
Liposuction may be done starting with the age of 20. The operation will be successful when the skin is still rather elastic and better recovers after operations. If a patient is old enough and has inelastic skin, the result of liposuction will be worse than it might be at the patients age of 30.
It is not the age but well-weighted decision of a patient that is the key factor for an operation. It may happen so that the result of an operation will be far from the one you expect to have. Indeed, it is rather difficult to predict how the soft tissues may behave in this or that particular case. It is also important to know that a rehabilitation period may last from 2 to 4 weeks after liposuction. During rehabilitation, patients must wear compression underwear.
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