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There are several approaches
to liposuction contouring. The patient should ask about
the available options. Liposuction can be done as an
outpatient or with a hospital stay. Most frequently
the procedure is performed as an out patient in our
office setting with local anesthetic and conscious sedation.
The pre-marked areas and infiltrated with the `tumescent
solution' this is a wetting solution which accomplishes
several objectives. First, it numbs the area to allow
the surgery to be performed. Second, the diluted adrenaline
in the solution diverts blood out of those specific
fat pockets to minimize blood loss. And, finally it
magnetizes the fatty pocket to allow far more accurate
evacuation of the desired fat cells.
While liposuction has
been popular for the past decade and a half, the past
few years has brought about the evaluation of a second
generation of fat evacuation known as ultrasonic assisted
lipoplasty. This technique allow the introduction of
an ultrasonic tipped probe into the fat pockets which
add several additional advantages over conventional
liposuction. The heated tip passes through non fibrous
areas with greater ease allowing far better fat evacuation.
The heating also assists the contraction of the overlying
skin likely reducing secondary rippling. Many feel that
there is even less blood loss with this technique than
conventional liposuction. This tool can be less safe
in certain areas with thin skin such as the inner thighs
or knees, thus conventional liposuction remains a valuable
tool.
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