Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Nutrition and Weight Control | Liposuction for Weight Loss

• Liposuction is appropriate only for people of normal or near-normal weight who have stubborn fat deposits that do not respond to diet and exercise.

While the surgical removal of fat may seem like an ideal method of weight reduction, liposuction is, at best, a questionable solution.

Unlike diet and exercise, fat reduction via liposuction has no proven health benefits. In fact, in a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers investigated the effects of large-volume liposuction—removal of about 20 lbs. of fat—on 15 obese women, including 8 with type 2 diabetes. After a 10- to 12-week recovery period, the women were an average of 9 to 11 lbs. lighter than before liposuction and had reductions in body mass index and waist circumference. Yet no improvements were seen in insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin, lipid concentrations, and blood markers of inflammation and insulin resistance. A similar degree of weight loss by conventional means typically improves all of these values.

Liposuction also cannot help those who are diffusely overweight. Instead, the liposuction is appropriate only for people of normal or near-normal weight who have stubborn fat deposits that do not respond to diet and exercise. Candidates should also be in good general health and have skin that is elastic enough to shrink evenly after the liposuction surgery—which rules out many people over 50. Finally, liposuction comes with no cosmetic guarantees: While the extracted fat cells will not return, weight can still be gained at other sites in the body.

Common sites of liposuction include the abdomen, hips, buttocks, thighs, legs, upper arms, face, and neck; sometimes several areas are treated at once. Patients must wear a special pressure dressing (such as a girdle or body stocking) over the treated area for several weeks after liposuction to help the skin shrink to fit the new contour and to minimize bruising and swelling (which may persist for months).

While the overall risk associated with liposuction is low, the more fat that is removed, the greater the risk of complications such as infection or blood clots. Patients interested in liposuction should consult their doctor for an assessment and, possibly, a referral to an experienced plastic surgeon.

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Nutrition and Weight Control | Liposuction for Weight Loss