Is Smart Lipo safer? Why don't more surgeons do it?

Liposuction in the U.S. is primarily done by board certified plastic surgeons or board certified dermatological surgeons. The dermatological surgeons usually approach it using local anesthesia where the patient is conscious, whereas plastic surgeons usually conduct the procedure using general anesthesia. Smart Lipo is a tool that is used to get you to your endpoint. Yes, in the wrong hands there can be problems and irregularities, as with any tool used. I encourage you to look less for the tool that is being used, and more in terms of placing your trust in the right surgeon.

Smart lipo is a type of tumescent lipo (sometimes called awake lipo). The procedure has all of the same steps as tumescent lipo which is very safe and adds one extra step - a laser step in which a laser fiber is fired into the fat layers. So, smart lipo has all of the same risks as tumescent lipo plus the risk of getting burned by the laser. This makes tumescent lipo without a laser safer than tumescent lipo with a laser. The risk of getting burned might be low in experienced hands, but it's not zero.

Tumescent liposuction is the technique to which all other methods are compared. It is safe and effective. First there is injection of fluid into the fat that causes blood vessels to shrink and gives pain relief which minimizes the amount of additional anesthesia required. All of the other techniques use tumescent fluid, and are followed by the suction component of the tumescent liposuction. The only difference is that laser, smart, jet, power, tickle and all of these other tools add a step in between the tumescent and the suction to melt or otherwise break up the fat. This extra step is not necessary to achieve good results, it adds risk, and is often a gimmick.