"Ultrasonic" means high-pitched sound. The use of ultrasound waves helped to make certain liposuction procedures easier, but not faster.
Liposuction is a surgical procedure designed to remove small pockets of excess fat that are resistant to diet and exercise. There are several types of liposuction procedures available, Tumescent liposuction involves the injection if a large amount of anesthetic into the area being treated. Lipo selection uses the same concept without disturbing the surrounding tissue. In ultrasonic assisted liposuction (UAL), sound waves are used to liquefy the fat before it is removed. Ultrasonic liposuction is not really a very new technique. Ultrasonic liposuction can be performed with either the traditional, wet, or tumescent methods.
Main advantages to an ultrasound assisted liposuction (UAL) procedure are typically: less tissue damage, less bleeding, and large volumes of fat removed. Commonly involved areas are the anterior part of the neck (under the chin), upper arms and armpits, male chest/breasts, trunk, abdomen, waist, hips, thighs, inner knees, calves, and ankles. The use of UAL allows safer removal of larger amounts of fat than with standard liposuction. This increase in safety is due to the reduced amount of blood removed with UAL. There are also different risks and precautions necessary for an ultrasound liposuction surgery. Since ultrasound is a high-energy disturbance, the risk of burns and nerve damage is increased. UAL causes blood clots in the small blood vessels.
Internal UAL produces heat and elevates the temperature of targeted fatty tissue. Ultrasonic liposuction also has complications such as nerve damage but probably causes less bleeding and irregularity. Usually the incisions required for this technique are bigger to accommodate some sort of skin shield that protects the adjacent areas of skin from being burned by the probe. Injury to peripheral nerves is possible with UAL. Patients who have had internal UAL appear to have an increased incidence of prolonged numbness consistent with injury to sensory nerves. The scars from liposuction are small and strategically placed to be hidden from view, even in a bikini. However, other cosmetic problems may occur, even it your surgeon is very skilled.
The high-frequency ultrasonic vibrations will weaken all generations of internal ultrasonic cannulae. The ultrasonic waves damage the probe with each use, and even the newest probes must be rejected after as little as twenty operations. Such mounting costs can be prohibitive and are always passed onto the patients. An emerging generation of devices uses an external ultrasound diffuse to treat areas before engaging in a more traditional liposuction procedure. Though these devices avoid the chance of a local tissue burn, it requires a large amount of ultrasound energy to pass down through the skin and can damage the outer layers of the body. The results of such external systems are currently under debate, with some doctors claiming success while others say it's just a gimmick.
