Advances in liposuction: five key principles with emphasis on patient safety and outcomes

Outpatient-Based High-Volume Liposuction: A Retrospective Review of 310 Consecutive Patients

BACKGROUND

Currently, the definition of large-volume liposuction is the removal of 5 L or more of total aspirate. Higher volumes of lipoaspirate come into consideration with higher BMIs, because more than 5 L is often required to achieve a satisfactory aesthetic result. The boundaries of what lipoaspirate volume is considered safe are based on historical opinion and are constantly in question.

OBJECTIVES

Because to date there have been no scientific data available to support a specific safe maximum volume of lipoaspirate, the authors discuss necessary conditions for safe high-volume lipoaspirate extraction.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 310 patients who had liposuction of ≥5 L over a 30-month period. All patients had 360° liposuction alone or in combination with other procedures.

RESULTS

Patient ages ranged from 20 to 66 with a mean age of 38.5 (SD = 9.3). Average operative time was 202 minutes (SD = 83.1). Mean total aspirate was 7.5 L (SD = 1.9). An average of 1.84 L (SD = 0.69) of intravenous fluids and 8.99 L (SD = 1.47) of tumescent fluid were administered. Urine output was maintained above 0.5 mL/kg/hr. There were no major cardiopulmonary complications or cases requiring blood transfusion.

CONCLUSIONS

High-volume liposuction is safe if proper preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative protocols and techniques are employed. The authors believe that this bias should be modified and that sharing their experience with high-volume liposuction may help guide other surgeons to incorporate this practice with confidence and safety for better patient outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3

The 100 Most-Cited Articles in Liposuction: A Bibliometric Analysis

BACKGROUND

Liposuction is one of the most common cosmetic surgical procedures performed worldwide. Despite previous citation analyses in plastic surgery, the most-cited works in liposuction have not yet been qualitatively or quantitatively appraised. We hypothesized that use of validated outcome measures and levels of evidence would be low among these articles. Thus, we performed a bibliometric analysis aiming to comprehensively review the most-cited liposuction literature, evaluating characteristics and quality of the top 100 articles.

METHODS

The 100 most-cited articles in liposuction were identified on Web of Science, across all available journals and years (1950-2020). Study details, including the citation count, main subject, and outcome measures, were extracted from each article by 2 independent reviewers. The level of evidence of each study was also assessed.

RESULTS

The 100 most-cited articles in liposuction were cited by a total of 4809 articles. Citations per article ranged from 602 to 45 (mean, 92). Most articles were level of evidence 4 (n = 33) or 5 (n = 35), representative of the large number of case series, expert-opinion articles, and narrative reviews. Ten articles achieved level of evidence 3, 22 articles achieved level of evidence 2, and none reached level 1. The main subject was operative technique in 63 articles, followed by outcomes in 32 articles. Five articles assessed the metabolic effects of liposuction. Only 1 article used a validated objective cosmetic outcome measure, and none used validated patient-reported outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS

This analysis provides an overview of the top cited liposuction literature. Overall, level of evidence was low, and no articles achieved the highest level of evidence. Improving the quality of literature requires prioritization of better-designed studies and incorporation of validated outcome measures, which will increase patient satisfaction and ensure provision of excellent, reproducible clinical care.

Avoidance and Correction of Deformities in Body Contouring

Body contouring procedures are highly impactful because of their potential to improve a patient's quality of life. These procedures, particularly when performed on patients following massive weight loss, may require secondary intervention to treat residual contour abnormalities. Presently, there is a paucity of information in the literature detailing the avoidance and correction of body contouring deformities. Herein, we will discuss the management of patients seeking revisional body contouring procedures.

Cosmetic Surgery Safety: Putting the Scientific Data into Perspective

Optimizing patient safety and outcomes remains at the forefront of cosmetic surgery today. The five most commonly performed procedures are breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and abdominoplasty. Safety of all cosmetic surgery is a necessity for its successful, continued practice. This article seeks to elucidate the current literature detailing the major and minor complication profiles of the five most practiced areas in cosmetic surgery.

Liposuction-Gadgets and Widgets: Save Your Money

In the past few decades, numerous adjunctives and devices have been introduced to body contouring surgeries, especially liposuction. Most of these devices require special maintenance and accessories for their proper functionality, which might be expensive in many parts of the world or for young surgeons starting their own practice. In this article, we suggest some tools that could be used during liposuction to save money, minimize complications rates, and enhance the results without endangering the patient's overall safety.

Lipoplasty Combined with Percutaneous Radiofrequency Dermaplasty: A New Strategy for Body Contouring

BACKGROUND

A new technique in plastic surgery termed percutaneous radiofrequency dermaplasty (PRD) is described. Customized radiofrequency energy is applied via the percutaneous route to produce skin tightening and fascia contraction at body temperature, avoiding thermal injury. We combine PRD with lipoplasty and call this combined procedure dermaplasty-assisted lipoplasty (DAL). The purpose of this study was to review both the safety and efficacy of DAL.

METHODS

We developed the required novel device and technique to perform DAL and then performed a clinical trial including Type I and Type II lipodystrophy female patients undergoing a primary liposuction of the circumferential trunk. The trial comprised two phases. In Phase I, 51 patients were included in a prospective, comparative, controlled trial and divided into two groups. In Group 1, 29 patients underwent DAL, and in Group 2, 22 patients underwent a standard suction-assisted lipectomy (SAL) alone. In Phase II, 84 patients underwent DAL, including 9 cases initially scheduled for a mini-abdominoplasty.

RESULTS

Phase I: We found better aesthetic results with DAL (93.1%) than with SAL alone (72.7%) [p < .05]. Postoperative correction of flaccid skin was superior with DAL (93.1%) than with SAL alone (36.4%) [p < .01]. Phase II: DAL achieved good-to-excellent aesthetic results in 94% of the cases.

CONCLUSIONS

DAL was found to be a reliable and safe treatment for fat removal with concomitant skin and fascia tightening but without compromising the viability of the overlying skin.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

High Definition Liposculpture in Male Patients Using Reciprocating Power-Assisted Liposuction Technology: Techniques and Results in a Prospective Study

BACKGROUND

High-definition liposculpture (HDL) consists of techniques developed to emulate an athletic and attractive surface anatomy.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to describe our experience, including techniques and postoperative outcomes, when performing HDL with power-assisted liposuction (PAL) technology in male patients.

METHODS

In this prospective study PAL was used for fat extraction and to perform HDL. Intraoperative data were collected and the techniques used were recorded. Postoperatively, photographs were taken, and data were collected regarding the use of compression garments and pain medication, return to work and full activity, and satisfaction levels.

RESULTS

All patients were males, with an average age of 32.3 years and a body mass index of 26.45 kg/m2; the follow-up period averaged 7.6 months. Intraoperatively, all patients received HDL of the chest, abdomen, back, and upper arms, and fat transfer to the chest. The average operative time was 3.4 hours. None of patients had drains left intraoperatively. Postoperatively, all patients were completely off their pain medications by postoperative day 9. They received, on average, 3.7 sessions of lymphatic massage and wore compression garments for an average of 3 weeks. They returned to work 6.1 days after surgery and were back to full activity in 3.2 weeks. Minor complications were reported in 2 patients. Patient satisfaction was on average 9.8 (on a scale of 1-10) at 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

HDL with PAL technology is a safe procedure that delivers reproducible natural-looking results with high patient satisfaction rates, low risk of complications, and a relatively short and tolerable recovery process.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4

On Beyond Lidocaine: Reconsidering Local Anesthetics in Tumescent Liposuction-A Critical Review

The use of tumescent solution in liposuction is now considered standard of care; however, much debate still exists regarding its ideal components, especially surrounding the inclusion of local anesthetics. This article reviews the discussion regarding the use of local anesthetics in tumescent liposuction and how it may evolve in the future. The need for local anesthetic additives in tumescent liposuction has been questioned, and the use of longer-acting agents discouraged; however, increasing number of reports in recent years have described the increasingly widespread use of tumescent anesthesia where a wetting solution is infiltrated to achieve anesthesia in an operative field for procedures other than liposuction. More high-level evidence, such as randomized controlled clinical trials, will be required; however, it should be possible to develop a useful standardized algorithm that can guide surgeons to optimize patient safety as well as patient experience.

Feasibility and Safety of Video Endoscopic Inguinal Lymphadenectomy in Vulvar Cancer: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review previous studies and to evaluate the feasibility and safety of video endoscopic inguinal lymphadenectomy (VEIL) in vulvar cancer.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive review of studies published through September 2014 to retrieve all relevant articles. The PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Wan Fang Data and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were systematically searched for all relevant studies published in English or Chinese through September 2014. Data were abstracted independently by two reviewers, and any differences were resolved by consensus.

RESULTS

A total of 9 studies containing 249 VEIL procedures involving 138 patients were reviewed. Of the 249 VEIL procedures, only 1 (0.4%) was converted to an open procedure for suturing because of injury to the femoral vein. The range of operative time was 62 to 110 minutes, and the range of estimated blood loss was 5.5 to 22 ml. The range of the number of harvested lymph nodes was 7.3 to 16. The length of hospital stay varied from 7 to 13.6 days across reports. The incidence of lymph node metastasis was 19.7% (27/138), and the recurrence rate was 4.3% (3/70) within 3 to 41 months of follow-up. One or more short-term complications were documented in 18 of 138 (13.0%) patients. Complications after VEIL were observed in 14 (10.13%) patients and in 15 (6.0%) of the VEIL cases, including major lymphocyst formation in 9 (3.6%), lymphorrhea in 2 (0.8%), inguinal wound infection without wound breakdown in 3 (1.2%) and lymphedema in 1 (0.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

VEIL appears to be a feasible procedure in the management of vulvar cancer. There may be potential benefits that result in lower morbidity compared to traditional methods, but this has yet to be objectively proven.