Who is more qualified to do my liposuction: dermatologic surgeon or plastic surgeon?

My patients appreciate our ability to tell them when liposuction is best, and when lifts are best (i.e. tummy tucks).

Since we perform many of each, we have no stake in which procedure is performed other than what is best for the patient.

Patients should always have the confidence when talking to their doctor that he is properly counseling them on the correct options of the procedures, not pushing one procedure or another.

According to the American Board of Medical Specialty the only "plastic surgeons" are those that are Boarded by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Anyone can call themeslves a plastic surgeon, cosmetic surgeon, or dermatological surgeon but none other than a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon has had the debth of surgical knowledge to perform cosmetic surgery on a patient, other than a Board certified plastic surgeon.

Both specialties have liposuction as a procedure that is in the curriculum for training in residency.  There are many physicians of both specialties that have performed this procedure safely and with great results.  You need to see an experienced physician with whom you have a good rapport and who has a good reputation in your community.

You have asked a loaded question and from your experience, you can see that there are "turf" battles in medicine and surgery.   There is no doubt that your board certified plastic surgeon is more qualified to perform your liposuction.  Why?  Because we know how to operate on the entire human body, from the skeleton, muscle, fat, skin, and just about everything in between.  Plastic surgeons can treat the human body as a 3-dimensional structure and dermatologists treat the skin in 2-dimensions.   The plastic surgeon has the technical know-how and experience to build the "house" from the ground up, not just "paint" it.   Most importantly, it is the plastic surgeon who will know how to "fix" your issues should there be a problem or complication.     

There is a lot of misinformation out there about liposuction but the important thing to keep in mind is that it is surgery. Even though the skin incisions are tiny, the volume of tissue affected can be large, just like any other surgical procedure. When people emphasize the safety of tumescent technique, which is popular among dermatologists, they compare to old data about general anesthesia. However, most procedures are probably done with monitored intravenous sedation and some version of tumescent, so it's a false argument. What's more, there is the potential for lidocaine toxicity when trying to do too much under tumescent so the safety question ultimately comes down to the judgment of the surgeon and whether or not the procedure is being done in anaccredited surgical facility.