How Much Fat Can Be Removed During Laser Liposuction?

There are different limits as to what is safe depending if this is to be done as an outpatient or inpatient setting.

5 liters or 5000 cc is the limit that should be done as an outpatient. If you were to stay in the hospital and be on a monitor then this doesnt apply. This is somewhat unrealistic as hospital stays increase the cost tremendously.

Therefore, 5 liters is the limit for outpatient liposuction, whether it is lase lipo or conventional.

Just as a side note, laser lipo is no different than traditional lipo as far as down time, incisions and so forth. In fact after the laser lipo is passed through, the regular lipo cannula is used to suck out the fat.

Hope that helps.

Hello,

Cool Lipo results are modest compared with any type of liposuction.
Outpatient liposuction done in one session has a limit of 5 l, while higher amounts of fat will be removed in OR under general anesthesia for safety reasons.

Best,

Oxana Popescu, MD

I just want to be clear Cool Lipo is a laser assisted liposuction. It is a minimally invasive surgery that uses Laser to melt fat that is combined with Tumescent Liposuction. You can safely remove up to 5 liters of fat with this treatment.   That would be about 11 pound of fat as the maximum that can be safely removed. 
Cool Sculpting is a different non invasive treatment that doesnt remove fat but freezes the fat cells and some fat volume is lost over a 3- 6 month period as a result . The amount of fat that is lost varies but is quite a bit less than can be removed with liposuction or laser assisted liposuction. 

Hi, there! Thank you for your question. With liposuction procedures, the standard safe guideline for outpatient surgery is 5-liters. This is due to potential shifts electrolytes with exceesive volume removal. The best way to provide true advice for specific treatment recommendations would be an in-person consultation with an experienced provider in aesthetic body contouring. Best wishes! Dr. David Amron

Tumescent Liposuction performed in an outpatient setting is a body contouring 

procedure. Many patients have the impression that they will lose a significant amount of weight after lipo. I remind them, before or during their consultation, that the primary goal is to improve their shape and they may lose two to four  pounds, but again weight loss is not our goal. Five liters of fat removed during outpatient Lipo is the maximum volume

recommended.  

The maximum safe limit of volume removal is 5 liters in one session. This keeps it safe for the patient.  Within the 5 liters there is a certain amount of fat. This amount varies between patients because of what is truly fat within the pinch. The average amount of fat within the 5 liters is about 2-3 liters. That's a 2 liter soda bottle and more.  Hope this helps 

The maximum amount of fat that can be removed in a single surgery really varies on the patient.  Smaller patients will definitely have a smaller safe amount and larger patients will have more fat that can be removed in one surgery.  5L is a useful guideline, but this would definitely be unsafe in a smaller individual.I believe an experienced surgeon can determine what is possible in your case.  Generally if you are just doing your abdomen and back, you should fall within the safe limits of what can be done.Best wishes for your surgery!

Liposuction Limits - depends on State and Safety

5000 cc's (5 liters) is the guideline limit for outpatient liposuction for many states including California. For smaller patients with more areas for liposuction removing less fat may be safer.

Laser liposuction begins with the infiltration of fluid into the tissues.  This provides both a means for pain control as well as to decrease blood loss.  Then the laser device is used to apply energy directly to the fat and skin but done internally.  This allows the fat to melt prior to being aspirated out.  Once the laser energy is delivered, it is suctioned out.   The mixture of fat and infiltration fluid (tumescent solution) is called the lipoaspirate.  You can safely remove about 5L of this combination.   The most common laser devices are the SlimLipo and SmartLipo lasers that both melt fat and tighten the skin.

most of my patients who are interested in laser liposuction are interested in the fact that this can be done without general anesthesia.  since a patient is not asleep, thorough local anesthetic needs to be given with the tumescent solution that is typically infiltrated prior to the procedure.  because there are safety limits to how much local anesthesia can be given at one time, this often limits the amount of liposuction that can be performed.  i think laser liposuction is more suited to focal areas of fat rather than general areas, especially if this is to be done in the office without general anesthesia.

Laser and ultrasound assisted liposuction is superior to regular liposuction, in that it not only removes excess body stores by aspiration, but it actually destroys fat cells so that they can be absorbed by the body. So, in reality, it is not the quantity of fat aspirated, but the extent of laser energy generated to destroy fat cells in the body. This will determine final body contour.