Before              After

Best candidates includes people with normal weight, with firm and elastic skin who have areas with excess of unwanted fat.  Because of the skin characteristic as skin ages, older people may not achieve the same results as a younger patient with more elasticity on the skin. 

This procedure is not recommended for people who suffer of certain medical conditions such as diabetes, heart or lung disease, circulation or coagulation anomalies.   

Before Liposuction

Your health condition, fat deposists and skin will be evaluated before the procedure.  With your surgon you will the discuss the procedures available for your case and will decide which one is the best for you.  Follow all the instructions that your doctor gives to you, including stop smoking.  If you debelop any infection, especially skin ones your surgery may be postponed.

The Surgery

Small volume liposuction is usually performed in an outpatient bases, however according to the amount of fat, you may need to stay in the clinic for couple of days.  The procedure is usually done under general anesthesia, but this, as the time that the procedure could take, will depend also of the amount of fat working with. 

The incisions are placed in specific points to help the surgeon work in the best areas, they are small (about 1 cm) and through them a cannula will be pulled into the fat layer, breaking the fat cells and suctioning them out.  You will need to be carefully monitored and will receive intravenous fluids to help t prevent shock or other complications due to excess of fluids lost.

During the procedure fluids can be injected also, it can reduce the blood loss, help the fat to be removed more easily and provides local anesthesia in the treated area.  With the tumescent technique, more fluids than usual are injected and it takes less time than the traditional method described before.  With UAL ultrasonic energy is used with a special cannula liquefying the fat and being removed in the traditional way with suction.  This last technique improve the results in fibrous areas like the upper back or the enlarged male breast, but it takes more time.

Posible Risks

Posible complications of liposuction includes infection, healing problems, fat or blood clors, excessive fluid loss, shock, fluid accumulation, friction burns or other damages to the skin or nerves including perforation of vital organs and adverse drug reactions.  You need to know that blood clots, perforation of vital organs and shock can be fatal in the most severe cases. 

Heat from ultrasound in UAL may cause injury to the skin and deeper tissues, also the long term effects of ultrasoun energy on the body are not yet known.

Skin surface after liposuction may be irregular or asymmetric, specially in older patients.  Pigmentation changes may occur and additional surgery may be need.

Complications can be minimized, but never eliminate completely even in the most experienced hands, being informed about the procedure, following your doctor indications and selecting a qualified group of health profesionals, including the plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist.

The Results

Ater the procedure, some fluid drainage from the incisions is normal. You could need an elastic dressing to help the skin better fit its new contours, also antibiotics could be prescribed to prevent infection. 

You may feel discomfort and sweeling the first weeks after surgery, pain medications ordered by your doctor should be enough to help it.  It is also normal to feel anxious or depressed at the beginning, but you should feel better in few weeks as soon as you can see the results of your surgery, healing takes time and even if you feel some discomfort, you should start walking and moving as soon as posible to prevent blood clots forming in your legs.

You should be able to go back to work in about a weeks but avoid arduous activity for one month.  Some sweeling could remain for 6 months or more, but inmediately after the surgery you will be able to see the difference in your body contour, you should follow a healthy diet and regular exercise to mantain the results of the procedure.