"How Much Fat Are To Going To Remove?"

The great CC's Removed Comparison

Patients tend to go online and exchange various details regarding their surgery. Frequent in these exchanges is information on how many CC's of material were removed during an operation. On the surface, this seems very pertinent; that is, until you probe the technique and see that which is really being removed.

Problem #1:
Almost all surgeons performing liposuction put fluid [the "infiltrate"] in before they suck fat out. This is a good thing as that fluid contains painkillers and blood vessel "tightening" medications that both limit post-operative pain and decrease bruising. Most surgeons put a fair amount of this in there. Sometimes many times the amount of fat they ultimately remove. The "Super Wet" techniques actually do this by design.

Problem #2:
The material aspirated [the "aspirate"] is reported in total only as "aspirate volume." So your surgeon can really make this volume any number he wants by simply putting in more infiltrate and sucking it out making your aspirate volume greater. It will be all extra water, but it will be greater.

The real issue is not how much aspirate volume (in CC's) you have, but how much fat is in it. In patients with ultrasound-assisted liposuction, this is really difficult to figure out as the fluid comes out as a slurry (almost like a child's Slurpee drink).

This practice does not fabricate volumes. The surgeon reports the amount of fat removed and does not put in extra infiltrate to make your aspirate seem larger. The amount of fat removed in a liposuction case is not the most important issue. It is the configuration of the fat left behind.

You want a thin even pad of fat between your skin and the deeper tissues. This minimizes streaking and skin irregularities common to the practices that really are treating your brain in feeding you fictitious aspirate volumes or sucking out so much fat that you look like a shark bit you. You also don't want so much fat removed that your skin sags (if you can avoid it). This should limit your desire for additional surgery.

Be very careful in asking for more liposuction in areas previously treated. People are not "fat bottles." If you go beyond that which is advisable, you can make the skin look really terrible...."ripply" is a term commonly used to describe it.

People are designed differently. They have differing amounts of fat in different areas. Comparing "CC's removed" with all we have said is really not going to help you figure out the quality of your liposuction treatment.