Will i attain better results from liposuction surgery if it is performed while i'm standing up or while i am laying down? summer is approaching and i'm currently considering a liposuction procedure. i've always thought liposuction to be a procedure that i

You : You are certainly correct that body contouring results depend on how we interact with gravity in the standing position. Since we are human, however, it would be technically rather difficult to perform liposuction on someone who is standing up. For this reason, the markings for liposuction are done at 360 degrees in the standing position. The patient is then placed recumbent for the surgery, either face down, back down or both. It is dependent on the surgeon's talent and skill to translate the markings made upright into the appropriate fat removal and scuplting. While early taping and dressings are applied with the patient lying down, later garments and taping are perfromed while standing to help mold the body into its new shape as swelling subsides and the skin resettles.

You : You are correct that liposuction can provide the most optimal results while standing, but only for some of the body parts. I am considered to be the first plastic surgeon to perform stand up liposuction and the only areas that will benefit from stand up lipo are: hip rolls and the saddle bags. The inner thighs and the knees may also benefit, but it's not as important there. Good luck from nyc. For more info visit www.Drgrossman.Com.

You : You are correct in your thinking and some of the very earliest liposuction pioneers such as dr. Illouz or hetter reported performing the procedure upright. Some italian surgeons use a tilting table for this purpose. Unfortunately there are many practical issues that make this a difficult undertaking such as securing the patient, assuring adequate resistance. Guarding against vasovagal episodes (passing out). Surgeon positioning, etc.

Standing results: Depending on the type of anesthesia performed, it is fairly simple to perform the liposculpture procedure lying down, and then stand the patient upright, and evaluate how the result looks while standing. This is complicated if general anesthesia is used, but you are correct that the results should be evaluated in the upright position before signing off on the final result, and we do this routinely.