Is laser lipo considered safer than traditional?

Question

I've seen conflicting literature on the safety comparisons of laser lipo (like SmartLipo) vs. traditional liposuction. Are they more or less the same thing or are they significantly different? Particularly, does laser lipo come with less risk than traditional lipo?

Barbara Padilla, MD · Answer

Hello and thank you for your question!

When considering your options, keep in mind that any surgical procedure comes with certain risk of complications. Another factor to consider is the experience and expertise of the physician performing the procedure. Smart Lipo is a safe procedure that we perform often in our office. The main difference between the traditional version and our laser assisted version is that Smart Lipo is a minimally invasive surgical procedure and the fat cells are melted before suctioning.

During Smart Lipo, the patient is always awake and alert throughout the procedure. In lieu of general anesthesia, a numbing fluid with lidocaine is injected only into the treatment area in order to ease the pain. This also brings down the price of Smart Lipo, since you don’t have to account for the added cost of a team of doctors to administer and monitor anesthesia. There are incision sites that are very small and usually do not leave a scar. This is contrary to traditional liposuction where the incisions are larger to accommodate the suction tube used to remove the fat cells. After the area is numbed, which we know by checking in with the patient to gauge their comfort level, we melt the fat cells. This is done by inserting the laser fiber through the incision sites. With Smart Lipo, the laser has a tightening effect on the skin above the treatment area, and you will not be left with loose skin, which is sometimes a possibility with traditional liposuction. After this, a small cannula no bigger than the tip of a pen is inserted to suction the melted fat cells.

Another major difference between the two procedures is there is considerably less down time associated with Smart Lipo, as the patient is not under general anesthesia. Within the first couple days after Smart Lipo, the patient will feel back to normal and will be able to resume their daily activities. After traditional liposuction, the patient needs to recover from the general anesthesia as well as the pain from the actual procedure. While you will have to wear a compression garment for 2-3 weeks after Smart Lipo, this is less time than with traditional liposuction.

If you are considering either procedure, your best plan of action is to set up a consultation with an experienced physician to discuss which procedure you would be a better candidate for. Keep in mind that with Smart Lipo, the best candidates have a BMI less than 30 and are no more than 20% over their ideal body weight.

Hope this helps, and good luck with whichever procedure you decide on.

Muhammad Mirza, MD (license suspended) · Answer

Thank you for your question.  I would consider laser liposuction to be safe and better than traditional liposuction.  A laser targets your area of concern—waist, thighs, calves, arms—and the phototherapy laser triggers the body’s natural process for releasing stored content in adipose fat cells. The fat cell’s membrane is disrupted releasing intra-cellular fat, and without affecting neighboring structures such as skin, blood vessels, and nerves. Fatty acids and glycerol are released and removed from the body via your body’s natural metabolic process. Your fat cells are emptied rather than destroyed.  I hope this helps.

Philip S. Schoenfeld, MD, FACS · Answer

Surgical procedures such as traditional liposuction, power assisted liposuction, Vaser lipo, and laser liposuction are very operator dependent.  Laser lipo is safe and effective when performed correctly.

David Hansen, MD · Answer

Laser liposuctions are the cheapest of lipos for a reason: There are just too many complications and bad results. Same true of J plasma treatments and general anesthesia. Avoid them.  Get the tum. lipo with the micro canulas and the added Bodytite RF (radio frequency skin tightening) for the best results. Sincerely, Dr Hansen

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

Laser liposuction is outdated and not nearly as good as ultrasonic + RF. I suggest you see an expert.
You need a formal evaluation by an expert in body shaping and contouring to determine what is best.  Traditional liposuction awake and smart liposuction are old methods and do very poorly for tightening skin or significant skin tightening or contouring.  Small problem areas can be improved slightly by these methods.  The best in body contouring not only removes fat with energy devices like VASER ultrasound but also internally heat the skin with radio-frequency devices such as J PLASMA/RENUVION, InMode BodyTite, ThermiRF to heat the under surface of the skin and tighten it at the same time as fat removal. These combinations are called 4D HIDEF VASER contouring and can only be done by a well . trained body contouring specialist. At the same time fat should be harvested, PRP and stem cells added and injected into muscles or indentations/cellulite to get body shaping and contouring.  This is known as a Brazilian butt lift when you inject the fat to the buttock for contouring and lifting, but fat can also be used in areas such as the chest/breast, arms/shoulders, calves and face.  Cellulite should also be treated with cellfina, sculptra, subcision and/or fillers such as bellafill, renuva synthetic fat, or sculptra.  If skin is very loose before surgery then it will need to be removed such as lower abdominal skin (tummy tuck/abdominoplasty), breast skin (breast lift), arm skin (brachioplasty).  Overall you need a full assessment, but simple liposuction alone will not tighten skin and needs a combination of various methods -- fat removal, skin tightening, defining, fat grafting, skin removal -- to get the best in body contouring and body sculpting.  Dr. Emer.

Afshin Farzadmehr, MD · Answer

Traditional lipo is safest.  Anything beyond that with laser, smart, vaser etc adds added heat that causes risk of  burn and longer duration surgery none of which is acceptable and not there with traditional gold standard lipo.  The results using these power techniques are not improved over traditional lipo based on plastic surgery publications.  Thanks for great question.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear ia06nJsme255,
There is no difference in safety between two liposuction procedures. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Jerry Darm, MD · Answer

Here at Aesthetic medicine we use laser assisted liposuction. The laser assisted liposuction we perform is safer than traditional liposuction as there is no general anesthesia involved (where you are put to sleep). The laser assisted liposuction uses tumescent anesthesia and an oral anti-anxiety medication. Tumescent anesthesia includes a numbing solution inserted under your skin into the fatty tissue. You are awake during the procedure, are able to go home the same day and back to work in as little as 2 days.

Leonard Grossman, MD · Answer

I started using laser liposuction in 2002 and found out very quickly that it is far from safer than traditional or power assisted liposuction. laser liposuction should only be used in patients who have had add prior procedures performed with a great deal of scar tissue or when  minor skin tightening can be provided. traditional or power assisted liposuction is still number one procedure when it comes to the results and safety. Good luck from New York City

Karol A. Gutowski, MD, FACS · Answer

Laser Lipo (SmartLipo) is NOT any safer than traditional lipo and if any surgeon tells you that, ask for a published medical study to back up the claim (there are none). To do laser lipo, you still have to do traditional lipo to remove the fat. I use laser lipo for selected patients to try and get a little skin tightness under the chin and in the neck area but it will not tighten loose skin significantly. Laser lipo has a higher risk since it can cause burns and more internal scar tissue.

Is laser lipo considered safer than traditional?

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