As you may have read, there is a lot of direct marketing going on these days. Catchy names for procedures make them sound more appealing. (Think about the most recent liposuction technologies and some branded face lift techniques.) In the realm of breast reductions, using a laser to deepithelize the skin island is just a variant of the normal technique (I use a knife to do the same thing). But the laser sounds high-tech, is marketable, and cannot be easily infringed as these lasers are expensive (100k+). The same thing was done a while back for laser Blepharoplasty. I personally don't think the laser is better for deepithelization in a breast reduction and is possibly detrimental as it instills a burn component to the surgery. If a surgeon already happens to own one, it does makes sense to use it if there is a marketing advantage. (And it might be faster, depending on how quickly they can deepithelize skin with traditional techniques.) I'll admit that I'm guilty of marketing as well, as I try to encourage patients to visit my website and view my before and after photos.
Regarding surgical times: I consider myself a very expeditious surgeon, and can complete most real reductions in 2.5 to 3hrs. Anyone quoting 1 to 1.5hrs of surgical time is using an assistant to do a significant portion of the procedure.
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