Liposuction – Eight Different Kinds Of Technique

If you are considering liposuction to help eradicate those extra hard to lose pounds of fat there are eight different types of techniques that you and your doctor can select to use that you should be familiar with.

The original liposuction technique also known as the traditional method has fallen out of favor and is rarely used today because it carries the highest rate of creating trauma to the tissue as well as carrying high rates of side effects including excessive blood loss, nerve damage and tissue death. This method is referred to a dry technique because it doesn’t involve injecting the patient with any fluids like the wet technique does.

The wet technique is similar to the original dry technique except a small amount of fluid is injected into the patient. The fluid is a mixture of saline, lidocaine for numbing and epinephrine to control blood loss. A more popular method is the super wet technique which is similar to the wet technique with the only difference being the amount of fluid injected. This method requires the same amount of fluid be injected as fat to be removed and has proven to be less traumatic to the tissue.

A fourth method of liposuction is tumescent which allots that two to three times more fluid be injected into the patient as fat to be removed. This creates a mass of swelling which creates more room between the fat deposits and the skin for the cannula to operate without creating any tissue trauma. This method does not require a patient to undergo anesthesia but it can carry a higher risk of lidocaine toxicity. This side effect has been greatly reduced in recent years however as doctors become more skilled in the correct dosages of lidocaine to administer for this technique.

A fifth method gaining in popularity is ultra sonic assisted in which the surgeon uses sound waves directed at the treatment area to break up fat cells and liquefy them. The liquefied fat can then be suctioned out with a cannula and tube. The risk to this method is the possibility of burns associated with the sound waves.

There is also a power assisted liposuction method that uses a canola with a rapidly vibrating tip to break up and suction out fat. This method causes less stress and trauma to the tissue and carries no burn risk like the sound wave technique does.

A method gaining in popularity is the laser technique which also carries the benefit of creating more collagen which in turn helps to tighten up the skin. This method breaks up fat with a laser and the liquid fat is then drained out through small incisions instead of suctioned out.

Finally the last technique is a high volume liposuction which is used to suction out massive quantities of fat- up to ten pounds- at once. This technique carries higher risk factors than the other methods due to the amount of fat extracted at one time.