Plastic Surgery Briefing: Liposuction

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Liposuction is a surgical technique used to contour the body by removing unwanted areas of fat. During the procedure, a hollow suction tube, or "cannula," is passed through small skin incisions and manipulated in such a way that the unwanted fat is broken up and transferred through the tube by the attached vacuum machine. Patients may be given general anesthesia or merely sedated to undergo liposuction and generally do not need to remain hospitalized overnight. Improvements in body contour are usually permanent with this procedure.

From its introduction into the United States in 1982, liposuction has grown to become the nation's most frequently performed cosmetic plastic surgery procedure. In addition, its techniques have been adapted for such non-cosmetic purposes as tumor surgery, breast reduction and flap contouring. A recent modification of the technique, ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL), substitutes high-frequency ultrasonic energy for mechanical energy, to remove localized areas of fat.


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