eMedicine Specialties > Plastic Surgery > Body Contouring

Liposuction, Trunk: Treatment

Author: Allen Gabriel, MD, Director of Research, Department of Plastic Surgery, Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Coauthor(s): Mary Katherine Gingrass, MD, FACS, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Plastic Surgery, Vanderbilt University; Consulting Surgeon, The Plastic Surgery Center of Nashville; Martha Matthews, MD, Head, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, Cooper Hospital University Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Julian B Gordon, MD, Consulting Staff, Division of Plastic Surgery, Kennestone Hospital; Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, Northside Hospital-Cherokee
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Mar 5, 2009

Treatment

Surgical Therapy

Historically, 4 different infiltration techniques have been used for suction-assisted lipectomy (SAL): dry, wet, superwet, and tumescent.

Dry

• No fluid is injected into the subcutaneous fat layer before suctioning.
• Approximately 25-45% of the aspirated volume is blood.
• This technique is not used commonly except for small volume suctions.

Wet

• Illouz pioneered this technique in the early 1980s.
• It consists of an infusion of 100-300 cm³ of saline into each site of fat to be removed before suctioning.
• The aspirated blood volume is lowered to 20-25% of the total aspirate.
• Hettler's addition of 1:200,000 or 1:400,000 epinephrine to the presuctioning fluid in 1983 reduced blood loss even more. Less than 15% of the aspirate was blood.

Superwet

• This technique was devised in the late 1980s.
• It consists of an infusion of fluid containing epinephrine and low doses of local anesthetic in a 1:1 ratio to the volume of expected aspirate.
• Blood loss is reduced to approximately 2% of the aspirated volume.

Tumescent

• In the tumescent technique, large volumes of dilute lidocaine and epinephrine are injected into the subcutaneous fat before the procedure.^9,10
• Klein described this technique in 1990.¹¹
  • Large volumes of saline containing 1:100,000 epinephrine and 0.05% lidocaine were injected subcutaneously before suctioning until the tissues were tense.
  • The injected fluid volume was greater than that expected to be suctioned.
• Blood loss is approximately 1% of the aspirated volume.

Much debate exists between proponents of the superwet and tumescent techniques. Most modern liposuction is a combination of these 2 techniques.

The series of photographs below shows a patient before and after tumescent liposuction.

Intraoperative Details

Standard liposuction

• Make small stab incisions along relaxed skin tension lines.
• Inject the presuctioning fluid.
• Introduce the suction cannulae into the deep fat layer.
• Activate the vacuum and push the cannula to and fro through the fat, creating a radial pattern.
• Use multiple incision sites to overlap the fan patterns. This technique helps prevent contour irregularities.
• If needed, use smaller caliber cannulae to suction the superficial fat layer in a similar fashion. Take care not to injure the skin or to create contour irregularities caused by the superficial location of this fat.
• Close access wounds with 1-2 buried absorbable sutures. Place sterile dressings.
• Place a fitted compression garment over the treated areas; some believe that it must be worn continuously for at least 2 weeks.
• Close access wounds with 1-2 buried monofilament nonabsorbable sutures.

Ultrasound-assisted liposuction

• Infuse similar presuctioning fluids into the subcutaneous fat layers.
• Add ultrasonic energy to emulsify the fat cells.
• Ultrasound can be performed before suctioning using solid probes or it can be added directly to the suction cannula, enabling simultaneous liquefaction and suctioning of fat. A 3-step procedure is incorporated.
• Ultrasonic energy is exothermic, so it can cause heat injury to surrounding tissues. This may improve the results of liposuction by increasing contraction of skin and subcutaneous tissues, but it increases the risk of injury to the skin during superficial suctioning.
• Ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL) allows treatment of areas (ie, back, upper flank, chest, male breast) that previously did not respond well to conventional liposuction.
• The cosmetic treatment of the male patient with gynecomastia has been revolutionized by the use of UAL. Excellent results have been realized with minimal scarring, avoiding the previously required scars of mastectomies.

Note: The ultrasonic energy used in UAL is delivered via the cannulae as they are passed through the fat layers. Devices do exist that deliver ultrasonic waves transcutaneously, but these have not been shown to be helpful.

Postoperative Details

Once the final contouring is performed, the incisions are closed. Incisions for cannulae larger than 3.0 mm are generally closed with a 5-0 nylon suture. Some surgeons recommend leaving smaller incisions open to allow wetting solution to drain. The patient is dressed in a compression garment that covers the areas that have been suctioned. Compression foam (TopiFoam) under the garment seems to decrease bruising and swelling in the early postoperative period. An abdominal binder and compression foam can be used when the hips and abdomen are suctioned alone. When thigh work is done as well, a girdle is preferable.

When drains are used, they are left in place until drainage is less than 30 mL in a 24-hour period. Foam padding should be left in place for 3-5 days. Compression garments are generally encouraged 23 hours per day for 4 weeks. Patients are warned that with larger volume liposuction, some patients experience lightheadedness (a vasovagal response) the first time the garment is removed. Therefore, someone should accompany the patient for the first dressing change.

Follow-up

Patients are instructed to remove their garments or foam and to take a shower after 1-3 days, depending on the amount of suction performed. When 1 or 2 areas are suctioned, the patient can typically replace the foam padding over the liposuctioned areas and replace the garment after the shower. When multiple areas are suctioned, the first dressing change is often better performed in the office.

Postoperative follow-up visits are scheduled at 5 days, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months. Patients experience red-tinged, serosanguineous drainage from incision sites for the first 24 to 36 hours. Maximal swelling can be expected during postoperative days 3-5. If the patient has bruising, it will usually resolve over 7-10 days.

The patient is instructed to begin lymphatic massage of the areas suctioned approximately 2 weeks after surgery. This reduces edema and helps reduce small contour irregularities. A referral to a massage therapist trained in Dr. Vodder's manual lymphatic drainage techniques¹² instructs the patient on proper massage technique, and many patients may choose to continue with the massage therapist. Manual lymphatic drainage is a common technique used to treat lymphedema patients and is useful in the treatment of liposuction patients the first 4-6 weeks. Patients can expect approximately 80% of the edema to resolve within 4-6 weeks; it takes a full 4-6 months for all of the swelling to resolve.

Patients should begin ambulating on the day of surgery. Oral fluids and a high-protein diet should be encouraged. Physical activity should be low for the first week, followed by a gradual increase in activity during the second week, depending on the amount of suction performed. At the end of the first or second week (depending on the amount of suction), the patient should be encouraged to get on a treadmill or walk outside (with compression garments on). Upper body conditioning can also begin. At 4-6 weeks, assuming edema and bruising are resolving appropriately, the patient should be advancing to full activity. These guidelines are general and must be tailored to the individual patient.

Return to work depends on many factors: the patient's profession, the amount of liposuction, the patient's general health, the patient's physical and emotional recovery, and the patient's desire to return to work. After an average medium-volume liposuction (2-4 L), most patients return to work in less than 1 week. They feel tired and sore but can function appropriately. For large-volume liposuction (>5 L), the average patient should schedule 2 weeks off work. Many patients who schedule small-volume liposuction (<2 L) desire surgery on Friday afternoon and plan to return to work on Monday. This can be done; anecdotally, patients who do not plan any recovery time seem to have a lot of early swelling and a prolonged eventual total recovery time.

Complications

Short-term complications

• Hypesthesia, paresthesias, edema, ecchymosis, hematoma, seroma, and infection usually resolve quickly and are not complicated. Hematomas and seromas may need to be evacuated with large needles or skin incisions. Infections often resolve with oral antibiotics although a low incidence of devastating necrotizing fasciitis has been reported.
• Fat emboli can be fatal but are rare.
• Skin necrosis can occur, usually as small areas. It usually can be treated conservatively with local wound care.
• Pulmonary edema has been reported as a complication of tumescent liposuction.¹⁰

Long-term complications

• The most common long-term complication is contour irregularity. This is related to the surgeon's experience and may respond to massage therapy. Treat it conservatively for at least 6 months. Perform autologous fat grafting, further liposuction, or skin excision as needed. Various studies state minor revision rates of 2-10%.
• Skin color changes are rare but are more common with aggressive superficial ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL).

Specific incidences for the complications of liposuction are difficult to ascertain. Physicians of various specialties perform liposuction in hospitals, surgical centers, and private offices. The most devastating complication of liposuction, death, has been reviewed statistically. In January 2000, Grazer published an article in which he reported the fatal outcomes of liposuction using a census survey of cosmetic surgeons.¹³ He surveyed 1,200 actively practicing, board-certified North American aesthetic plastic surgeons who were members of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Of those surveyed, 917 reported that from 1994-1997, 95 fatalities occurred after 496,245 lipoplasties. This yields a mortality rate of 1 in 5224 (<0.5%). This is similar to rates quoted elsewhere. Pulmonary thromboembolism was the major cause of death in 23.4 (±2.6%) of these deaths.

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