While the interest in aesthetic surgery is increasing day by day, it brings questions, local and unwarranted concerns. I have to say from the beginning; “A patient who wants to have an aesthetic operation should know that the doctor to whom he will apply is a specialist in Aesthetic, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery”. After this point, he should ask his doctor about all the issues that create confusion about aesthetic interventions and enter the operation without any question marks.
These days, there are so many false views and fears about liposuction in the society that our patients come up with many questions, from the high risk of death to the pits that will form in the body after liposuction. We plastic surgeons perform our surgeries by combining science with art. It should not be forgotten that we consider health and aesthetics as a whole in our surgeries. We can describe liposuction as a fat absorption method. liposuction; It is the removal of fat from the areas where lubrication is excessive and aesthetic loss by entering under the skin with thin long cannulas. Fat is removed through these cannulas either by electric aspirators or by the surgeon’s own power using large injectors.
My preference is the injector assisted degreasing method. In this method, the surgeon applies liposuction independently of the machine in a more controlled manner. The purpose of liposuction; It is the absorption of fat cells, whose numbers do not change after puberty in the body, but only increase in volume by gaining weight. Therefore, it is not possible for a certain number of fat cells taken from a body area to regenerate in that area. Perhaps the most important point to be emphasized is that liposuction is not a slimming but a body shaping operation. I always tell my patients that “the most ideal liposuction patient is the one who does not see himself as overweight but only complains about certain parts of his body, such as the hips, belly area, side waist areas, inner thighs”.
I start and follow a suitable diet for some of my patients in the preoperative period. I see that the cases that I have had success in the diet (provided that it continues in the post-operative period) have obtained excellent results from liposuction. However, in cases where the diet is stubborn, I apply liposuction for certain body areas that are indicated without waiting. Although the safety limit for the amount of oil to be taken is determined as 2.5-3 liters, this amount can be increased with appropriate pre-operation preparation. If a large amount of fat is to be removed, the operation can be repeated at 6-month intervals. I absolutely forbid smoking for at least 1 week before the surgery and at least 2 weeks after the surgery.
The type of anesthesia I prefer for the surgery; It is sedation anesthesia added to local anesthesia. If I am going to perform an additional procedure, I prefer general anesthesia. As a surgical technique, I use the tumescent technique, which is the most accepted method in recent years. I also apply superficial liposuction with thin cannulas that minimize the risk of skin irregularity. The special liquid injected into the subcutaneous adipose tissue ensures that the procedure is painless and that the amount of blood absorbed by the fat during the procedure is minimized. In the postoperative period, dressing is applied to the entrance holes of the cannulas on the 2nd day and the patient can easily take a bath after this period. It takes 3-5 days to return to active social and business life.
It is normal to have bruises on the skin, albeit a little, and it disappears in a short time. For 2-4 weeks, I apply a corset to the areas where I applied liposuction (according to the classical approach, I believe that it is unnecessary to have a long corset period). In order to obtain a more aesthetic skin surface in the postoperative period, I recommend either manual massage or LPG to my patients.
