Will Liposuction Help or Hurt a Diabetic Patient?

Good Morning Shab,

Patients with diabetes have a slightly higher risk for complications such as wound healing and infection. Fortunately, these are rare occurrences and a diabetic patient can certainly be an excellent candidate for liposuction. It is important to recognize that liposuction can help to remove excess fat and improve contour in various areas, but it will provide little beneficial effect associated with to the physiologic issues associated with diabetes.

Interstingly, I have found is that many of my patients with a weight problem have used liposuction as an impetus for behavior modification including diet and exercise routines that provide long term results. If for no other reason, work with your doctor to get your diabetes well-controlled so you can minimize the complications associated with your condition.

Diabetics can have an increased complication rate after surgery. Longer healing times and a higher infection can occur, but they are much more common in patients that don't have a tightly controlled blood glucose level. That is in addition to the other medical problems that uncontrolled diabetes can cause. Once your blood sugar is in control, you can have a great result with liposuction just like any other patient and I have performed liposuction on several diabetics with a wonderful outcome. Good luck.