Could lipo cause more hunger due to a decrease in leptin as a result of a decrease in fat cells?

Thank you for your question about liposuction, liposhaping.I think your rationale is theoretical and not clinically significant.To be sure what might be right for you, see two or more experienced, board-certified Plastic Surgeons for a complete evaluation to make sure you are a good candidate and that it is safe for you to have surgery.I hope this helps.

I find that many of my patients loose extra weight after liposuction due to changes in their metabolism and the happiness they achieve from the surgery influences their exercise and lifestyle.  Best, Dr. Emer.

This is a very interesting question.  In my experience, I have not noticed an increase in appetite for my patients that undergo liposuction.  I will have to look up peer reviewed articles to see if there is any scientific evidence behind this.

Our calorie needs increase significantly after surgery. The body needs more energy for the healing process.  I do not think leptin release is altered significantly from liposuction. I say this for two reasons.Even in high volume, multi-area liposuction, we still only remove a small fraction of the total body fat.Secondly, the rate of leptin release is related to the amount of fat in each fat cell. If someone is at their genetically-set correct weight, the leptin release goes down and only increases when the fat cells grow. Removing some fat cells will not cause the remaining cells to behave differently.  I have not seen patients develop different hunger patterns after liposuction other than during the healing process.I have included a link if you want to read a little more about leptin. I like the way it's written, though it does not discuss leptin after liposuction.Best of luck,Mats Hagstrom, M.D.

That's a great question. Luckily, the increased hunger you mention does not happen. There are a multitude of factors that make one hungry, and Leptin is part of that, but the number of fat cells removed of your total fat is miniscule so there is no shortage of Leptin.