Patients frequently ask about Laser Liposuction and want to know if it is better than standard tumescent liposuction ultrasonic-assisted liposuction.  I tell them it is unclear whether it offers an advantage, and it is a question that needs to answered by analyzing and comparing long term results.

What I do tell them is to worry more about who is doing the procedure rather than focusing on the technique.  Companies that manufacture medical devices are concerned about selling those devices to doctors.  Whether those doctors have formal training in plastic surgery does not always seem to matter.  I recently looked at the website of a leading laser liposuction manufacturer and found eight doctors in Texas.  One was Board Certified in Plastic Surgery, and one in Dermatology. Of the other six, two were certified by OB-Gyn, one in  Anesthesia, one in General Surgery, one in Family Medicine, and one had no Specialty Certification at all.

I am amazed that patients will have liposuction done by an ob-gyn or an internist. If they went to a plastic surgeon to have their baby delivered, would they expect the same quality they would receive from a Board Certified Ob-Gyn?  Of course not!  So why do patients think their liposuction done by a non-plastic surgeon will be as good?

Laser Liposuction is frequently "sold" as a procedure that is done under local anesthesia, leading patients to believe that it  will cost less. However, if they would comparison shop, patients would find this is not at all true.  Likewise, there is an implication that Laser Liposuction is somehow safer, but I have seen two patients who have been irreparably damaged by laser liposuction.  Less pain is also a purported benefit of the Laser technique, but there was a recent patient who thought the procedure was so horrible, that she complained to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.

I advise patients to ignore the hype and to be wary of heavily advertised procedures like  laser liposuction, as they are frequently oversold.  I continue to do tumescent liposuction under general anesthesia in an operating room as I believe the technique is proven to give the most consistent results at a reasonable cost and  with the fewest complications.      In selected cases such as revision liposuction or liposuction for gynecomastia, I will also use ultrasonic-assisted liposuction.  When scientific evidence is presented that laser liposuction is safe and offers an advantages to the patient, I will consider performing the procedure.