1. How soon will I see liposuction results?

This obviously depends on which parts are suctioned, how much was removed, etc. In general, contour improvements are evident immediately after the procedure has been completed, although it takes 3-4 months for all the swelling to go down and the full improvement to be appreciated.


2. What anesthesia is used with Tumescent Liposuction?

Tumescent implies injecting fluid into the liposuction sites – this is done mainly to decrease the amount of bleeding that occurs during the procedure. The answer to this question depends on what is in the tumescent fluid. Usually the fluid includes local anesthetic and this in and of itself can be sufficient anesthesia for the procedure – indeed, many practitioners, particularly those who are not surgeons and who cannot get privileges in a surgery center or hospital will perform the procedure solely with the tumescent anesthesia. However, most patients find many injections quite uncomfortable, leading to increased blood pressure and more brusing afterwards, which prolongs the recovery. I prefer to give the patients adequate sedation in a surgery center setting, so they take a brief nap while the injections are made and the fat is aspirated.


3. Who can perform Tumescent Liposuction?

This depends on State laws governing the practice of medicine. In California, any physician CAN perform the procedure, but from my perspective, this is a surgical procedure and it is a good idea to choose a surgeon who has been well trained not only in the liposuction procedure, but in the alternatives such as tummy tucks or facelift. In this way, all the alternatives can be discussed and the procedure most appropriate for you can be chosen.


4. How safe is Liposuction?

Liposuction is a very safe procedure in well trained hands. However, patients have died from a variety of complications such as suctioning an overly large amount of fat in one sitting, from perforations of internal organs such as intestines and the stomach, etc. The procedure looks easy but a high degree of training is necessary to obtain consistently good results.


5. What areas are most common body regions treated with Tumescent Liposuction?

In female patients, I’d say that the hips and thighs are the most common areas treated by tumescent liposuction. The abdominal wall can be suctioned in ladies who collect an excess of fat there, especially if they have not had a pregnancy – once someone has had a child, the skin is frequently stretched to the point that a satisfying result will require a tightening of the skin. In males, the most commonly suctioned areas are the abdominal wall, love handle and chest areas.


6. Can I have other operations with Tumescent Liposuction?

I’d say that more often than not, I do other procedures along with the liposuction. For example, the neck is suctioned in most facelifts, and that procedure can be combined with eyelid surgery, nasal surgery and so forth. Frequently we utilize liposuction of the love handle areas or the upper abdominal wall in the process of doing a tummy tuck. Many young ladies having extra fat removed from their hips or thighs will have a breast augmentation or uplift at the same sitting. The more important factors here are the amount of ft to be removed and the total length of the surgical procedure. If someone wants a tummy tuck, a breast reduction and a major liposuction, I would encourage breaking the procedures into two procedures to avoid an excessive loss of blood in any one procedure. Likewise with time, it have been shown that any procedures up to six hours in length will be associated with minimal anesthesia risks. I’ll do any elective cosmetic procedures desired by a patient that can be safely done in under six hours – if, in my estimation, more than six hours will be required, I’d prefer to break the procedures into two sessions.


7. How does the Tumescent technique reduce risk of infection?

The tumescent technique is designed to reduce blood loss, brusing and swelling. The original liposuction procedures in the early 1980’s were performed without any injections prior to starting the suctioning. I wrote a paper in 1986 (Goodpasture, J. and Bunkis, J. Quantitative analysis of blood and fat in suction lipectomy aspirates. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 78:765) that showed how much blood was lost with the suction aspirate and recommended that a tumescent solution could decrease blood loos – needless to say, the tumescent technique is now the standard of care and I don’t think anyone liposuctions without injecting the tumescent solution first. I don’t think the tumescent technique changes your chances of getting an infection, but from my personal experience with over 5,000 liposuction cases since the early 1980’s, I have never seen an infection following an isolated liposuction so I do not think that this is much of an issue.