The article below is quoted from Plastic Surgery Practice:
Dr. William Hall acknowledges that there are many great liposuction products and technologies that assist in helping patients look their best, but many of the claims are exaggerated and inaccurate.
“To state that they are better because they provide a new technology that will avail superior skin-tightening or “painless” results is not necessarily true,” Hall said.
“I started and built my practice in 2001 as a tumescent liposuction pioneer, specialist and trainer in the industry,” Hall proclaimed. “Back then, tumescent liposuction was the least invasive, safest form of liposuction, because of the localized anesthesia, smaller incisions and instruments that allowed for more precision and limited downtime than traditional liposuction – and it is still one of the best techniques the industry has to offer,” Hall said.
Now, we have a new generation of hybrid lipo techniques that capitalize on people’s interest. Hall lists the names of many new procedures, such as: Smart Lipo® a trademark of Cynosure; Laser Liposuction; VASER® (Vibration Amplification of Sound Energy at Resonance) Liposelection® owned by Sound Surgical Technologies; and Ultrasonic Liposuction or H2O℠ Body Jet Liposuction (manufactured by human med). Hall stats that they all solicit to reduce complications and to be better than the next, but in fact, they are machines that assist in the liposuction technique, and they are only as good as the surgeon performing the procedure.
"The truth is that all of these procedures are at least minimally invasive, and they all cause minor pain, swelling and bruising for a very short period of time.” "In addition, the jury is out on whether one trumps the other, because it is really about the surgeon's experience and technique - more than the equipment itself," Hall stated.
“I get patients all the time who come to me for corrective surgery, dissatisfied, because they believed in the hype and implication and went to an inexperienced surgeon who offered the latest technique,” Hall said. “This has an impact on the credibility of the procedure itself."
“As an innovative physician, I have learned to embrace next-generation technology and educate myself about new equipment and procedures, but not to abandon one procedure or technique over the other, merely because a manufacturer tells me their product is better,” Hall stated.
In addition to experience & skill of the surgeon, I believe safety of liposuction also depends on proper patient selection, availability of emergency backup i.e. proper hospital setup in case of complications. The recent death from liposuction in Singapore (a prominent CEO of a large property development company)had several factors screaming high risk. The patient died from at least 3 punctures into his guts. The surgeon was experienced having had at least 300 cases under his belt but to puncture his intestines means the patient wasn't fat to start with (The first contraindication to liposuction is NO FAT). Moreover, the surgery was done in a clinic setup on Orchard Road.
