Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
What you can expect
By Mayo Clinic staff
How your liposuction procedure is done depends on the technique that's used.
Tumescent liposuction. During this most commonly used liposuction procedure, your doctor injects fluids into the area of your body being operated on, causing it to swell and stiffen. The amount of fluid can vary, depending upon your size and the area being worked on.
The injected fluid is a mixture of salt water, an anesthetic (lidocaine) and a drug that causes your blood vessels to constrict (epinephrine) so that you lose less blood during the procedure. The anesthetic helps relieve pain. The salt water helps your doctor remove the fat and is suctioned out along with the fat.
The surgeon then makes small cuts into your skin and inserts a tube called a cannula — which is about as thick as a thin writing pen — under your skin. The cannula is connected to a vacuum that sucks the fat and fluids from your body. Because you're losing fat and fluids from the suction, the doctor may replenish your body fluid through an intravenous line, also called an IV.
- Ultrasound-assisted liposuction. Ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL) is sometimes used in conjunction with tumescent liposuction. During this procedure, your doctor inserts a metal rod that emits ultrasonic energy under your skin. This ruptures the fat cell walls and liquefies the fat for easier removal. UAL increases the possibility of surgical risks, such as skin burns and nerve damage. However, it can be useful for removing fibrous or dense fat, such as on a man's torso.
- Powered liposuction. A relatively new type of liposuction, powered liposuction, uses a cannula that moves in a rapid back-and-forth motion. This vibration allows the doctor to pull out tough fat more easily. Powered liposuction may sometimes cause less pain and swelling and can allow the doctor to remove fat with more precision, especially on smaller areas, such as the arm, knee or ankle.
During the procedure
Some liposuction procedures may require only local or regional anesthesia — anesthesia limited to a specific area of your body. Other procedures may require general anesthesia, which induces a temporary state of unconsciousness.
If your procedure requires only local anesthesia, the doctor or nurse gives you several numbing shots in the area to be worked on. More numbing medication is then injected deeper into the fat to prepare it for the liposuction. You may also be given a sedative in pill form — or through an IV injection — to help you remain calm and relaxed.
If you need general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist or anesthetist gives you an anesthetic medication as a gas to breathe through a mask or injects a liquid medication into a vein.
The surgical team places several monitors on your body to help make sure that your heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen remain at safe levels throughout the procedure. These monitors include a blood pressure cuff on your arm and heart-monitor leads attached to your chest.
If you feel anything during the procedure, it may be a dull "rasping" type sensation as the cannula moves under your skin. This is typical. If you feel definite pain, tell your doctor, as the medication or motions may need adjustment.
If your procedure requires only local anesthesia, you may be asked to stand up at times during the procedure to ensure proper fat removal.
The procedure may last up to several hours depending on the extent of the surgery. After the procedure, your doctor may leave your incisions open so that fluid can drain from your body. If you've been given general anesthesia, you regain wakefulness in a recovery room. You generally spend at least a few hours in the hospital or clinic so that medical personnel can monitor your recovery. If you're in a hospital, you may stay overnight. The more fat you have removed, the greater the potential risks of the procedure. Your doctor may want you to stay overnight to ensure that your body isn't dehydrated or in shock from fluid loss.
After the procedure
Expect some pain, swelling and bruising after the procedure. You may need to wait a few days before returning to work, and a few weeks before resuming your normal activities and exercise.
Your doctor can prescribe medication to help control the pain. You may also need to wear tight compression garments, which help reduce swelling, for a few weeks. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection. During this time, expect some contour irregularities as the remaining fat settles into position.
