Tumescent Liposuction or Ultrasonic Liposuction? Consult Your Surgeon on Which Technique is Best

When considering Liposuction surgery, it is best to ask the surgeon which technique they are proficient with. Gone are the old days where the surgeons used wide tubes and sucked out the fat "dry" leaving the patient severely bloody and bruised. Techniques have improved in the past 30 years to the point where severe bruising and bleeding are almost a thing of the past. The two most common methods are Tumescent Liposuction and Ultrasonic Liposuction. These techniques are generally used in different areas of the body and require different skill-sets to perform them.

Ultrasonic Liposuction is generally regarded as the better technique for areas such as the back and thighs (among other areas). However, Tumescent Liposuction is usually the clear winner for patients and surgeons due to some of its inherent advantages.

In traditional Liposuction surgeries of the past, blood loss was a particular concern for surgeons and their surgical staff. Tumescent Liposuction was devised to eliminate this concern.
Tumescent Liposuction is a method which limits blood loss in the patient by adding epinephrine (i.e. - adrenaline) to the solution which is fed into the patient's body where the fat is being sucked out. Additionally, a smaller tube is used which also limits the amount of bruising and bleeding that the patient will experience post-surgery. Because of its ability to help minimize bleeding and bruising, Tumescent Liposuction is the most widely used Liposuction technique.

As with any surgery, there are significant side effects and even risk of death. Liposuction deaths are extremely rare (for every 100,000 surgeries there are 20 deaths) however, even when performed by a board certified surgeon, the same risks for other surgeries exist with Liposuction surgery. Since everyone's body is different, to minimize the chances for anything going wrong during the surgery, preparations need to be made. These preparations include numerous physical examinations to determine at how great of a risk the individual is.

Jerry_Shepard