A 50-year-old female following VASER high-definition liposuction of the medial thighs, lateral thighs, flanks, lower back, upper back, mid-back, and fat grafting to the buttocks.
Whenever patients consider surgery, they must respect that side effects may occur. Side effects are not necessarily complications, but high-definition liposuction side effects and adverse events may occur during or following surgery. These side effects may be subtle or even cumbersome, but they typically resolve spontaneously or require varying degrees of intervention before resolution.
Patients undergoing surgical procedures must make difficult decisions that require weighing the benefits and risks of cosmetic surgery. As such, the cosmetic liposuction procedure must be considered when deciding to undergo high-definition body contouring. HD liposuction side effects are well documented and most commonly include hyperpigmentation, prolonged swelling, bruising, and the creation of excess skin.
- Hyperpigmentation is a side effect of liposuction since fat is removed comprehensively from all body layers, including the deep and superficial layers. The superficial layer specifically houses pigmented cells called melanocytes. When removing the fat from this layer, these cells can become irritated, which results in them increasing their melanin, the pigment molecule. Hyperpigmentation is a definite high-definition liposuction side effect and must be recognized and treated when it occurs. First, hyperpigmentation has a higher propensity in olive-skin individuals, especially Asians. These patients may take several measures preoperatively to avoid hyperpigmentation, such as applying a bleaching cream, hydroquinone 4 % topically, especially over their lower legs, which are more vulnerable to hyperpigmentation. During surgery, steroids are added to the tumescent solution to suppress melanin cell activation. Following surgery, patients may be recommended topical steroids and asked to continue with the bleaching cream topically if hyperpigmentation is suspected. With proper management, high-definition liposuction side effects risks of hyperpigmentation can be minimized.
- Prolonged swelling. Since ultrasound energy is used to emulsify the fat cells, prolonged oozing of liquid fat can be an infrequent side effect of high-definition liposuction following fat removal. In addition, the release of inflammatory products can make vessels leaky, which results in the leakage of blood fluid called plasma into the soft tissues. Fortunately, the high-definition liposuction side effect of swelling is temporary and will typically resolve no later than one month following surgery. Several measures are taken to minimize the risk of swelling, including wearing customized foam in-lay compression garments that compress the body so that there is no fluid accumulation. The second is the use of steroids in the tumescent solution that suppresses immune cells, subsequently reducing the induction of a hyper-inflammatory reaction. Reducing the hyper-inflammatory reaction minimizes blood fluid leakage from the vessels and subsequent swelling.
- Bruising is rarely observed with wearing compression garments customized to your body and placed on the day of surgery. Adding a customized foam in-lay underneath the compression garment provides intimate compression of soft tissues further to minimize leakage of blood products from blood vessels. These compression garments are to be worn around the clock for at least the first two weeks following surgery.
- Excess skin can be a side effect of high-definition liposuction since aggressive fat removal may result in unavoidable skin redundancy. This side effect is best avoided by identifying risk factors for skin redundancy preoperatively during your liposuction surgery consultation.
Steps to Avoid High-Definition Liposuction Side Effects
With appropriate precautions taken before, during, and after surgery, high-definition liposuction side effects can be routinely avoided. Patients may take advantage of the benefits that high-definition liposuction offers without experiencing the inconvenience of high-definition liposuction side effects.
High-definition liposuction is performed with ultrasound-assisted liposuction, the gold standard in liposuction techniques. This modality reduces trauma to fat cells that may occur during liposuction procedures. Through cavitation, the fat cells are released from solid clumps into liquid, single cells which can be more gently suctioned. The process of cavitation results in less injury to blood vessels and less irritation of the soft tissue structures. The net effect of this advantage is that patients will observe less swelling and less risk of hyperpigmentation since the influx of inflammatory cells is minimized. In addition, less bruising is observed since less leakage of blood products occurs. These side effects can be avoided when this modern liposuction technique is combined with customized compression garments.
In this liposuction patient from Newport Beach, Ca, it is evident that even at only one month following surgery, no hyperpigmentation is visible along her waistline. In the early postoperative period, bruising and swelling were avoided with appropriately fitted customized compression garments with foam in-lays. Finally, operative and postoperative precautions adhere to prevent the above high-definition liposuction side effects.
