Liposuction......is new better?

2008-03-25T08:43:00.004-05:00

There seems to be more confusion regarding liposuction than in any other procedure. The main culprit is direct to patient marketing. The companies that are trying to sell their devices have taken a page from the drug companies and try to convince you that their technique is better than everything else. It is frustrating for us to try to explain the myth from the reality over and over, but our job is to tell the truth.

Liposuction has been around for a long time and is usually fairly successful if the patient selection is correct and expectations are accurate. Recently two modalities have been marketed heavily. Both propose better results with quicker recovery.

One is mesotherapy. It also goes by trademarked names. It involves injection of a medicine to dissolve underlying fat. If it worked consistently it would be great. Unfortunately we have seen many unhappy patients with lumps, pain, or no improvement. Not to mention that injection of the meds under the skin is NOT an FDA approved use nor has adequate blinded studies regarding the effectiveness. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has an ongoing study which hopefully be be done soon. Be wary of any promised results.

A second device utilized a laser probe to dissolve the fat. Again, seems like a good idea until you read the research. A surgeon used the device on one side of patient and traditional liposuction on the other. Recovery was actually more difficult for the laser lipo patients with no significant improvement over traditional lipo.

I try to keep up with the current literature and the above info is up to date in my opinion. I'm not saying to avoid new technologies but if it seems to go to be true, it probably is.

Edina Plastic Surgery

Liposuction......is new better?