ShareThisLiposuction is the most common cosmetic procedure performed in the United States today. Medically termed lipoplasty, it is a surgical procedure for removal of fats under the skin using a suction equipment through small incisions. This is a short procedure performed usually in the office by a plastic surgeon, and was first introduced about 30 years ago.
Like most plastic surgeries, liposuction is a purely elective procedure, one performed not to save lives or treat diseases, but “to achieve beauty.”
The accepted medical standard mortality rate (risk of dying) in elective surgeries is 1 death in 100,000 cases. However, in liposuction, the mortality rate has been found to be around 19 deaths in 100,000, or 19 times riskier than what is acceptable. This was reported by the American Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) and published in the Plastic and reconstructive Surgery journal. This is even higher than the death rate for motor vehicle accidents in the United States.
This death rate is, indeed, too high a price to pay for vanity’s sake, and for an effect that is not permanent or lasting and a condition that is expected to, or could, recur even within months among individuals not disciplined enough to diet properly and exercise daily after the liposuction.
The standard acceptable surgical mortality rate in major operations is usually around 1-3%. While even coronary (heart) bypass surgeries today can attain a 1% post-op rate, or 99% death-free result, well within the set acceptable standard post-op death rate, and in some series, the death rate was even zero in 100 consecutive bypass cases done, liposuction is, to this date, still unable to achieve the industry acceptable mortality rate of 1 out of 100,000 patients for this elective procedure.
The risk in major surgeries cases naturally varies according to accompanying co-morbidities (other diseases present), such as high blood pressure, diabetes, pulmonary disease, thyroid disease, etc. if any. Patients for liposuction, on the other hand, are usually healthy individuals, only seeking for aesthetic improvement in their physical appearance.
Is Liposuction a cure for obesity?
No, liposuction is not a treatment, much less a cure, for obesity. Most, if not all, plastic surgeons consider obesity as a contraindication for liposuction. The treatment for obesity is mainly reduction diet and daily exercises under a programmed regimen.
So, what is liposuction for?
Liposuction is being used to contour the chin, neck, cheeks, breasts, upper arms, abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, calves and ankles. Because of patient expectation, some have been disappointed in spite of good surgical results. Plastic surgeons report that most patients like how they look afterwards.
Will liposuction remove cellulite?
No, liposuction will not remove cellulite (dimpled skin). Daily exercises could help improve the looks of the areas involved by firming the muscles underneath.
What are the patient criteria for liposuction?
Liposuction candidates must meet the following minimum criteria: good physical and medical health, normal weight, psychologically healthy, bothered by pockets of fats that remain after dieting and exercise program. And of course, they must have enough money to pay for the procedure, which may need to be done repeatedly as time passes by.
What are the risks and possible complications?
Reaction to medications, problem breathing during the procedure, bleeding, infection, thrombus (blood clots), pulmonary embolus (clots to the lungs), fat embolus (pieces of fats go to the blood stream and then to other vital organs), which could be fatal. The higher risk appears to be associated with the use of general anesthesia.
What are we willing to pay for “better looks”?
Cosmetic surgery has mesmerized our bulging-sagging-wrinkling-aging population as a crutch while we search for the elusive fountain of youth. And plastic surgeons today can really do amazing feats with one’s looks, in the area of noselifts, facelifts, etc. How risky and temporary the good effects of liposuction is another story. I have read and heard of fatalities among young women following liposuction. These are useless and preventable deaths. Not to mention the prohibitive cost of this plastic surgery.
To me, the procedure is un-physiologic, useless in the long run, and not safe enough, to say the least. It is against our body physiology, because it is natural to develop more fats when we eat more calories than we expend with our physical activities. Common sense dictates for us to go on a diet and do daily exercises when we start to gain weight and fatty bulges develop in our face, neck, abdomen or arms or legs. Or even better yet, to diet and exercise before these bulges occur, instead of allowing them to form and then resort to a surgical procedure to remove them. Living a healthy lifestyle is much less expensive, more physiologic, safer, and wiser, and more effective for health and maximal longevity.
Suctioning the fatty tissues under our skin is not the solution, because if, after liposuction, we resume eating more calories than we burn, the fatty bulges will recur to deform us again within weeks or months. Shall we then have liposuction every two months or so? And more seriously, are we willing to risk, or even lose, our life with liposuction just to look a little less fat and prettier temporarily? Are we really that obsessed in dying to look good?
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