FAQ: Am I A Good Candidate
1. Who is a Good Candidate for Liposuction?
A good candidate for liposuction is defined as any person who has realistic expectations, is in good health and is likely to be happy with the results of liposuction. Although liposuction can often provide very substantial improvements, it is rare for liposuction results to be absolutely perfect. It is not realistic for a woman, who weighs 154 pounds (70 kg) at the time of liposuction, to expect that the removal of 2.2 pounds of fat will permit her to wear clothes that fit well when she weighed 130 pound (60 kg). The health of a prospective patient is a more important consideration than age or weight.
2. Who is Not a Good Candidate for Liposuction?
- If you are not healthy, you may be at greater risks for liposuction complications than a healthy person. For example, there is an increased risk of surgical complications associated with a past medical history of immunodeficiency disorders, cardiac arrhythmias, seizure disorders, excessive bleeding, or a significant history of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs) or pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs).
- If you are taking certain drugs that may increase the risk of bleeding such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or anticoagulants such as Coumadin (warfarin), then liposuction would not be safe.
- If you are taking certain drugs that inhibit the metabolism of lidocaine, the local anesthetic used in the tumescent technique, then you might be at an increased risk of drug interactions, unless you can discontinue the drug(s) at least two weeks before surgery.
- You will be disappointed if you expect liposuction to be an effective means to lose weight permanently. Liposuction is not proven to be an effective treatment for obesity.
- If your skin does not have good elasticity, then you must expect there to be some degree of a crepé or slightly wrinkled appearance. However in many cases, patients with poor skin elasticity are very happy with their new shape despite the slight wrinkled appearance of the skin.
3. What are the most common reasons for patient dissatisfaction?
Insufficient improvement is a common complaint among patients who have had liposuction on multiple areas on the same day. If a surgeon attempts to treat too many areas on a single day, the relative improvement of each individual area might be less than if a surgery involving many areas were divided to two or more separate procedures. Irregularities or lack of smoothness is also a common complaint. Smooth results that look natural are of great importance. The use of liposuction cannulas (the metal tube that is used to suck-out fat from beneath the skin) that have a relatively large diameter tend to produce results with more irregularities less smoothness than do smaller liposuction cannulas. Surgeons who do liposuction totally by local anesthesia typically use microcannulas (outside diameter = 2.8 mm) because they cause minimal discomfort. Small cannulas generally produce smoother results.