Why Would a Surgeon Not Want to Perform Liposuction with an Arm Lift?

asked 7 months ago by Puzzled100
Latest answer by C. Bob Basu, MD
Question viewed 177 times
Tags: combination, risk

I am considering having brachioplasty and have seen two surgeons about the procedure. One surgeon recommended liposuction with the brachioplasty; the other surgeon never performs liposuction with brachioplasty because of the high level of trauma. Can someone please advise on why liposuction would not be performed and will my results be as effective?

10 answers to Why Would a Surgeon Not Want to Perform Liposuction with an Arm Lift?

Liposuction and Your Armlift

Without photos it is difficult to examine you to determine whether I think liposuction should or should not be added to your brachioplasty procedure. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon that specializes in body contouring procedures. The only concern your surgeon may have is if you are over-liposuctioned, it may cause wound necrosis due to the lack of blood supply in the area. I have included a link below that may be of... more

Siamak Agha, MD, PhD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

www.drsiamakagha.com

Liposuction with Brachioplasty

It is impossible to give any recommendations for treatment without a physical exam. But limited liposuctioning can be performed safely at the time of a brachioplasty. Liposuction may increase the risk of a fluid collection. Hence, if and when I perform liposuction with an arm lift, I will place drains to prevent a seroma. Another option is to perform secondary delayed liposuctioning after the arm lift to fine tune your results. So both of your docs are not... more

C. Bob Basu, MD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Liposuction with an Arm Lift...

Brachioplasty is an excellent procedure if you have loose, excess skin. It reduces extra skin and fat between the underarm and elbow, and reshapes your arm to result in a smoother appearance. Liposuction is a good choice when the skin is tighter and there is a lot of fat. Sometimes they can be done together, but you cannot be too aggressive with the liposuction when doing a brachioplasty at the same time because it is important to retain a good blood supply to the... more

Shain A. Cuber, MD
Marlboro Plastic Surgeon

www.AssociatesinPlasticSurgery.com

Liposuction and arm lift ( brachioplasty )

Every surgeon has his own comfort level with an operation. I would not hesitate to do liposuction and arm lift at the same time. As long as no skin flaps are raised liposuion can be done safely and enhance the results

Farhad Rafizadeh, MD
Morristown Plastic Surgeon

Liposuction and brachioplasty

If your upper arms are thick or bulky form collection of adipose (fatty) tissue, then doing liposuction to debulk the fatty tissue followed by the brachiopalsty 3-6 months later will likely provide a better and more optimal result. If the brachioplasty is done without doing liposuction in someone with bulky upper arms rather than just loose skin, the results will likely leave a thick but more contoured appearance of the upper arms, with the risk of wider or hypertrophic scars. more

Todd C. Case, MD
Tucson Plastic Surgeon

Brachioplasty with liposuction???

Too much liposuction and edema can interfere with the blood supply to the incision sites and lead to wound necrosis. So the answer is that some limited liposuction may be combined it a brachioplasty----but not too much! Without a photo, it is difficult to tell exactly what procedure you could benefit from.

Robert L. Kraft, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Liposuction with Arm Lift

Thank you for your question. It is difficult to give you precise advice without examining you and/or seeing photos. I use liposuction as a tool during the brachioplasty surgery for many cases. Each patient is different and so the technique used may be different. Make sure you are seeing well trained, board certified plastic surgeons who have experience with this procedure. I hope this helps.

Tom J. Pousti, MD
San Diego Plastic Surgeon

Arm lift and liposuction may be contraindicated

I use liposuction to contour the arm at the time of bracioplasty (arm lift). Typically the skin and fat that is removed takes care of 80-90 percent of the problem. Extensive liposuction may increase your risk for significant swelling and scar stretching and may interfere with the blood supply to the incision edges thus increasing your risk for wide scars.

Laurie Casas, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Armlift combined with liposuction

It is hard to tell on this discussion board (without seeing any pictures) why your surgeon advised against a combined procedure . in some instances the results of a combined procedure can be really nice. often a shorter scar (L-shaped) can be achied this way. but this depends also on you clinical situation. if the procedure is performed safely and adequately there should not be any damage or major trauma to underlying anatomic structures. hope this helps, kind regards more

Bianca Knoll, MD
Frankfurt Plastic Surgeon

Arm lift

It sounds that you have both excess fat and excess skin in the arms. If the fat and the amount of liposuction is large then as one puts large volume of fluid needed for the liposuction, the tissue will swell and that makes removal of the skin more difficult.