Liposuction is one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries in the United States and around the world. Over 300,000 procedures are performed every year in America alone, and there are also high numbers of surgeries performed in Asia, Europe and South America. Liposuction, also called lipoplasty or suction lipectomy, has been ranked as the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery in America twelve out the past thirteen years.
However, liposuction isn't merely a static procedure that has been unchanging over time. Every year, this procedure is refined. New variants and new technology are introduced, and old techniques are fine tuned. This article will explore in brief the history of liposuction and will give a number of important highlights in its development.
Although the roots of liposuction stretch back at least into the 1920's, the first successful lipoplasty was performed in Italy in 1974. Two American surgeons named Arpad and Giorgio Fischer who were working overseas got the idea to suction fat out using a blunt hollow tube (called a cannula). After seeing good results themselves, these surgeons published their findings in 1976.
The next stage of liposuction's development happened in France. Around 1978, a French doctor named Pierre Fournier took the initial findings of the Fischers and helped to publicize and promote them. Another French doctor, named Illouz, developed a technique that came to be called the "wet technique." It used fluids to help make the removal of fat easier. This wet technique subsequently spread to America.
During the 80's, liposuction had already begun to be fairly popular in America. However, it was met with a fair degree of suspicion, because many of these early liposuctions created unwanted side-effects such as blemishes of the skin. Some of these surgeries caused excessive and dangerous blood loss.
In 1985, the tumescent technique was invented by a Californian dermatologist named Jeffrey Klein. This tumescent technique used large amounts of liquid to cause the target fat to "tumesce," or become firm and rigid. The tumescent technique made it possible for suction lipectomy to use much smaller cannulas. Perhaps most notably, it made it possible for lipoplasties to be performed solely under local anesthetic. The tumescent method is still the most commonly used form of liposuction today.
In the years between the 80's and today, a number of new techniques have been put forward, each using a different form of technology to assist in the removal of fat. Laser assisted lipolysis (LAL) uses surgical lasers to melt fat, making it easier to suction out. A number of different companies inside the United States have developed different lasers to assist in LAL, with some of the more common being SmartLipo, ProLipo, CoolLipo, LipoLite, and LipoTherme. Ultrasonic assisted liposuction (UAL) uses ultrasonic waves to achieve a similar effect; however, many doctors now feel that UAL is unsafe because it can cause burns. Power assisted liposuction uses a special cannula that moves on its own, which saves effort for the surgeon. Some of the most recent advances include water assisted liposuction (WAL), which uses jets of water to loosen fatty tissue, and the custom acoustic method, which uses infrasonic waves to break up fat.
Some of these newer techniques have helped pave the way for further advances and discovery. Some of these techniques, such as WAL, have proved excellent at keeping fat alive. This has led to liposuction fat being used more safely and effectively in fat transfers. Some surgeons have begun sucking fat out of one area of the body and then replacing it in a more desirable area, such as the breasts or the buttocks. More amazingly, recent studies suggest that liposuction fat can easily be manipulated, which could make it invaluable in stem cell research. Who knows what the future will hold?
Christian Heftel is a staff writer at http://www.smartlipotopdocs.com
For more information on Christian and SmartLipo, please visit http://www.smartlipotopdocs.com
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