Esthetic surgery in Iasi

Chirurgie Liposculpture, Liposuction, and Lipoabsorbtion

Liposuction removes excess fat from certain areas of the body through small incisions (3-4 cm). After a medium scale liposuction, the circumference can drop up to 6-8 cm around the waist and 4 cm around the thighs.

Liposculpture reshapes and remodels areas of the body by removing excessive fat deposits but it is not necessarily a way of losing weight. However, its results are very obvious.

LIPOEDEMA is a recently described medical situation that seems to benefit from this technique. It is about patients with normal weight upper body and abnormally fat lower body, swelling and painful lower limbs by the end of the day in which no blood circulatory problem can be incriminated. It seems that the problem comes from the lymphatic circulation that is impaired by the lack of normal muscular massage, the most important factor that favors lymph climbing from the legs (normally, lymphatic vessels are "massaged" between the moving muscles of the legs and the skin stretched over them) due to an abnormally thick and "fluffy" fat layer under a lax skin. In these patients, leg elevation during the night sleep does not lead to a complete unswelling. Lymphatic drainage massage and compression stockings have only limited effect. With time and weight gain, things may worsen to a new condition called LYMPHOEDEMA which is characterized by permanently enormously swollen and painful lower limbs, thick skin with impaired walking and mobilization.

In LIPOEDEMA, liposuction seems to be the only remedy. Performed at least along the main lymph drainage pathways, liposuction decreases the thickness of the fat layer with a spectacular improvement or even complete healing of this condition.

Some medical specifications need to be known.

The number of fat cells in one's body is established during infanthood and it can only slightly increase afterwards. People put on weight because these fat cells can easily increase their volume up to 1000 times. So, by removing 80% of the fat cells from a certain area, means that even if one puts on weight after surgery, the treated area will grow fatter 80% less than it would have.

Liposuction destroys and removes the excess fat cells from the treated area only and these fat cells will not regenerate. Moreover, another 1/3 of the fat cells from the treated area will die and be reabsorbed by the body because of the trauma applied to them during the surgery. This is why the area of the body on which a liposuction has been performed will always be thinner than the rest of the body. In other words, the operated area will always look the same as it does after the surgery as long as the same weight is maintained (that is the weight you had at the moment of the surgery minus the weight of the absorbed fat).

According to the statistics, people who have undergone several liposuction sessions have more chances of maintaining the weight they have after the surgery and even lose more weight. One possible explanation is that people become more motivated in (re)gaining the figure they have always wanted. The latest research shows that within the following 6 months from the intervention, there is a positive change in the triglycerides and cholesterol levels (up to a 30% drop) and the ratio between LDL and HDL improves (the LDL "bad cholesterol" drops and HDL "the good cholesterol" goes up).

Up to 6 liters of fat can be removed during one liposuction session. Removing more than this amount can lead to intensive care and/or blood transfusion, which are the opposite of the goals of esthetic surgery.

Liposuction targets certain body areas (called fat deposits) that need to be well determined before the surgery and it cannot be done to the whole body. The most common areas are the abdomen, the love handles, the hips, the inner and outer thighs, the gluteus, the knees, and the ankles, but also the inner arms, the back, the chin, the neck, and the face.

The pre-operative consultation is the same with the other interventions. The patient needs to start on iron supplements two weeks before the surgery which needs to be continued even after the surgery in order to maintain the hemoglobin within normal values.

The surgery takes about 3 hours and it must be done under general anesthesia. To remove the fat cells and to reduce bleeding, a saline and adrenaline solution equivalent with the amount of fat to be removed is injected in the fat layer. The removal takes place through a 3-5 mm titanium or stainless steel cannulla (the size of the cannulla depends on the targeted area to be treated) connected to a high vacuum system .

A compression garment or bandage is worn after the surgery which will be changed next morning. An IV for antibiotics and pain medication will be worn throughout the hospital stay.

Possible immediate complications :

Hematoma : this risk can be reduced by wearing the compression garments /bandages.

Infections: the treatment with antibiotics must be strictly observed (starts before the surgery and continues 3-5 days after the surgery).

If, in spite of all the precautionary methods, there appear to be complications, there can be another surgical intervention.

Usually, the patient is discharged the next day. The patient must continue the iron, antibiotic, and pain treatment on his/her own, accordingly to surgeon's recommendations. To avoid the formation of blood clots, if the liposuction was done for a below the waist area of the body, then the anticoagulant treatment must be continued for up to 14 days. The compression garment/bandage must be worn for at least one week and the surgeon is the only one who can decide its removal. After this week, the patient can take a shower, which is when the patient will actually be able to see the results. The patient will continue to wear the compression garment during the day for about 3 weeks. Starting with the 10 th day, the patient will start a superficial type of massage called "lymphatic drainage," which will become more intense after the 3 rd week.

Please note that at first, because of the swelling, it might be hard to notice any significant difference between the pre and post surgery aspect, weight, and circumference of the body. This will change in the weeks to come (within the next 3 months following the surgery). The only condition is to follow a healthy diet to prevent weight gain. Bruising will start going away after 3 weeks from the surgery. The swelling will go down within 1.5 months for the abdomen and within 3 months for the calves.

Examples: