True Tumescent Liposuction for Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey

• Tumescent Liposuction Overview
• Complimentary Liposuction Consultation
• Recovering from Tumescent Liposuction
• Answers to Common Questions
• Potential Risks & Complications

Body sculpture by liposuction is literally a dream come true. Localized accumulations of fat, often inherited and frequently impossible to eliminate by diet and exercise, can now be permanently removed by liposuction.

To find out more about liposuction in Pennsylvania, contact Philadelphia liposuction surgeon Dr. Abbott or request a free liposuction consultation today.

About Fat

Body fat of an adult tends to increase gradually over the years and by age 30 an individual adds fat according to a genetically predetermined pattern. This fat distribution is often resistant to diet and exercise. An example is the fat that appears on the abdomen and hips after pregnancy.

For many people who have inherited accumulations of fat, liposuction is the only realistic means of significantly changing the body's silhouette. In effect, liposuction is much like focusing the effects of dieting on specific areas of the body.

Abdomen & Hips
Before	After

What Is Liposuction?

The concept of liposuction is surprisingly simple. Liposuction surgically improves the body's contour by removing excess fat located between the skin and muscle.

What is Micro-Cannula Liposuction?

Liposuction involves the use of small stainless steel tubes, called cannulas. The cannula is connected to a suction pump and inserted through very small incisions. These incisions are so small they do not require any stitches. The removal of fat is accomplished as the suction cannula creates tiny tunnels through the fatty layers. After surgery, these tiny tunnels collapse creating an improved body silhouette.

Love Handles
Before	After

Areas Treated by Liposuction

The treated areas are the abdomen, arms, love handles, hips, thighs, knees, calves, chin, female breast reduction and male pectoral area.

Permanence of Results

Fat that is removed by liposuction NEVER comes back. As long as the individual does not gain excessive amounts of weight, the new silhouette is permanent. When a patient who has undergone liposuction gains weight, the areas originally treated by liposuction maintain their new desirable silhouette, whereas areas not treated by liposuction show new deposits of fat.

Inner Thighs, Outer Thighs, Hips
Before	After

Outer Thighs & Buttocks
Before	After

Who Is a Good Candidate?

The best candidates are those who are in good health and have realistic expectations of liposuction. There is no specific age limit, nor weight limit for patients who are good candidates. Most patients have localized accumulations of fat, therefore, it is important to emphasize that liposuction is not a treatment for generalized obesity. Liposuction is not effective for people who are unable to maintain a reasonable weight by dieting. However, an overweight person whose weight has remained stable for many years and has specific problem areas may be an excellent candidate.

What Is a Successful Liposuction Result?

Liposuction is a success when the patient is happy with the results. The goal of the Pennsylvania liposuction surgeon is to achieve an aesthetically appealing silhouette rather than to maximize the amount of fat removed. The cosmetic success relies on removing inches not pounds. For example, removing a fat equivalent to half a pound of butter from each outer thigh of a woman's saddlebag area would result in a dramatic change in silhouette, but not a significant change to the persons' weight.

Arms
Before	After

Development of the "True" Tumescent Liposuction Technique

Liposuction is a relatively new form of cosmetic surgery, but recently has had several improvements. One of the most significant improvements was the introduction of the Tumescent Technique, which was developed by Dr. Jeffrey Klein, M.D. in 1985. This technique allows liposuction to be performed totally by local anesthesia instead of general anesthesia. This technique is now considered the safest form of liposuction because it allows the removal of large amounts of fat with virtually no blood loss. The tumescent technique has also proven to be less painful, minimizes post operative recovery time, and produces optimal cosmetic results. To find out more about the technique Dr. Abbott, Philadelphia liposuction surgeon, uses, read our Pennsylvania liposuction frequently asked questions page.

Liposuction Totally by Local Anesthesia

The word tumescent means swollen and firm. The tumescent technique uses large volumes of a dilute solution of lidocaine, a local anesthetic, in combination with epinephrine, which temporarily shrinks capillaries, the tiniest of blood vessels. The local anesthetic used for liposuction is so effective that patients no longer need intravenous (IV) sedation, narcotic analgesics, or general anesthesia. Over the years, numerous patients have previously had liposuction under general anesthesia and virtually every one of these patients has found the tumescent technique to be less painful, to provide better results and to result in more rapid healing and recovery.

A Pennsylvania liposuction patient watching her procedure with a mirror - notice she is not under a general anesthetia and seems quite comfortable!

Wide awake during tumescent liposuction and showing no signs of discomfort.

Using local anesthetia, rather than general, is not only comfortable, it can be a learning experience too!

Virtually No Blood Loss

As a result of the widespread capillary constriction caused by the epinephrine in the anesthetic solution, there is minimal bleeding during and after surgery. This is a major improvement in the liposuction technique compared to older methods that simply used general or regional anesthesia. To read more about true tumescent liposuction Philidelphia, read our Pennsylvania liposuction frequently asked questions page

Male Pecs
Before	After

A recently completed study of large volume liposuction of 112 patient, each of whom had between 1,500 and 3,400 ml (1.5 quarts to almost 1 gallon) of fat removed using the Tumescent Technique and none required a blood transfusion. In fact, the average patient lost approximately 15 ml (three teaspoons) of blood. The Tumescent Technique is so effective at minimizing blood loss that the majority of patients with large volume liposuction lose less blood during the surgery than they do at the time of their routine pre-operative blood studies.

When Are Blood Transfusions Necessary?

Because of the minimal blood loss associated with the Tumescent Technique, there is no need for blood transfusions.

Recently, a number of surgeons who use general anesthesia have begun to use the Tumescent Technique together with general anesthesia. Although these patients still must endure the risks and unpleasant side effects of general anesthesia, they do have the benefits of minimal blood loss associated with the Tumescent Technique.

Better and Smoother Results

The large volumes of dilute local anesthetics infiltrated into the fatty tissue causes the tissue to become swollen and firm, or tumescent, thereby magnifying the fatty area that is to be treated by liposuction. If there is an area that has not been completely treated, this is more easily detected because the area is swollen and enlarged. Thus the risk of post-surgical irregularities and unevenness is minimized.

With the Tumescent Technique very small cannulas are used, which permits a more delicate and gentle approach to liposuction. These cannulas which have been specifically designed for the Tumescent Technique are 2.5 and 3.1 mm in diameter, which is smaller than an oral thermometer. These micro cannulas require a minimal amount of force in order to advance them into the fatty tissue and as a result, this surgery is much more gentle, this allows the surgeon to control the direction and position of the cannula with much more accuracy. The ultimate result is a greatly reduced risk of inadvertently approaching too close to the undersurface of the skin and unintentionally causing irregularities.

Dr. Abbott's targeted areas to improve.

The delicate cannula used and the very small insertion point lead to smooth results and quick recovery for this Pennsylvania liposuction patient.

Which Specialists Do Liposuction?

Liposuction is a type of surgery that is appropriately performed by surgeons from several different specialties. The specialists who perform liposuction are gynecological surgeons, dermatologic surgeons, cosmetic surgeons and plastic surgeons such as liposuction surgeon Pennsylvania, Dr. Abbott.

Why Don't Other Surgeons Use the Tumescent Technique?

From the surgeon's point of view, it takes much less time to do the surgery when general or regional anesthesia is used. This is probably one of the most significant factors in determining which technique the surgeon will use.

• Tumescent Liposuction Overview
• Complimentary Liposuction Consultation
• Recovering from Tumescent Liposuction Pennsylvania
• Answers to Common Questions
• Potential Risks & Complications