Liposuction 2018. What is the most advanced (least downtime) technique used by surgeons?

Hello,
Please don't be confused by the intentionally confusing hype regarding the various machines out there. None of them differ in result or recovery. What makes the biggest difference is the surgeon, with training, skill, and most of all experience all adding up to the best result and recovery. Go visit a few ABPS certified/ASAPS member surgeons who specialize in body contouring procedures. Best of luck!

The gold standard is tumescent liposuction with sedation.  Anything else involves same with added heat to burn the fat prior to suction or radio frequency etc that lengthens the duration of procedure adds risks and due to additional energy even lengthens healing with no added advantage to result but possible additional costs.  Based on evidence based studies published in journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery still gold standard remains tumescent liposuction.   Based on my experience on performing lipo past 20 years and in our center Plastic Surgery Center of Beverly Hills where lipo has been performed for 40 years we have seen many machines and cliche instruments etc but gold standard still is the same.  

All of the techniques have a down time. Liposculpture by any techniques will require some downtime...if you are promised several days downtime, you are probably being misled. The incisions for any techniques are small but healing  still takes time.
Out patients with liposculpture are up and about in about one day, with a garment in place from chest to knees, depending on areas treated. 
It may take weeks or months for the skin to shrink down to ideal, but you will see a difference within days/weeks.
I recommend lymphatic drainage massage starting after the first week and then lipomassage 6-8 weeks if needed. 

In this question you may receive many different opinions. This is because each plastic surgeon differs in criteria and in experience as well. From the other point of view, as technology runs, new techniques in liposuction surfaces. Technology means high cost of investment. Many plastic surgeons do not want to do this investment. As I have done a large investment in technology and I have used nearly every type of liposuction equipment, I have the opinion that the best technology is a combination of SlimLipo Laser and Power Assisted Lipoplasty (PAL) in some cases, while I prefer Vaser Lipolysis in combination with PAL in other cases. The choice of the technology is based on my experience and is difficult to be explained. In some cases I combine SlimLipo Laser with Vaser Lipolysis and PAL as well. Up to now I have done hundreds of cases and I am happy with the results. As our goal is the good result, I prefer the invasive methods.  Non invasive methods, as Cryolipolysis, are not effective or have a minimal result. There is no comparison with invasive methods.
Obviously each technology has its limits and not any case is suitable for any type of liposuction problem. 

Thank you for your question. I'm not sure what your goal is. Do you want maximum results with minimal downtime? That will not happen. Little procedure equal little result. You also have to understand the difference between liposuction (reduce fat only) or body sculpting which brings out the muscle anatomy of body and extremities. I never used Coolsculpting. This is a machine that leads to mass fat death or necrosis by freezing. Does not sculpt, it is just a cool name for the machine (no pun intended). I used the Tickle lipo and Micro Aire's PAL and both are OK for liposuction. I prefer to use the VASER Hi Def Lipo technique for body sculpting. It can give you the best long term results in the hands of the appropriately trained surgeon. Not everyone using a VASER does know how to get the maximum benefit. You can gather that from some of the posts, that there's no difference (?). The reason is that most surgeons do fat reduction surgery only, have no experience in sculpting, have no experience with patients who had 2 or 3 liposuction procedures before. That is when the VASER is invaluable. But again, it is not enough to get the machine, one should be able to use to its maximum ability.In my practice, 20% or more of my patients are redo liposuction cases. Most of them from places where the surgeon has no advanced knowledge beyond the basic tumescent technique. Many already had "touch up" liposuction from the same surgeon. More scarring, more difficult to treat. Liposuction is many times the step child of plastic surgery. Most surgeons find it as an adjunct to other procedures they do, i.e. tummy tuck. If one does a tummy tuck only without liposculpting and fat grafting areas that need them, even the best tummy tuck will leave you looking like Sponge Bob. Flat, but no feminine shape or hourglass figure.Good luck with your search.

These are good for removing stubborn areas of fat, but most people need more than one treatment to get improvement with these techniques. Keep in mind, a combination approach is needed to get the best results. I recommend Coolsculpting with radiofrequency treatments like Vanquish for skin tightening and with Z wave/Cellutone for skin smoothing. However, Vaser with ThermiRF procedure is the best combination for a toned result, but requires more downtime. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

The experience of the surgeon with regards to number of cases and knowledge about liposuction is usually the number one factor for achieving great results. I like ultrasound as well as power liposuction in my practice. Best. 

Power assisted liposuction is probably the most popular technique used these days.  Downtime may not be less but it does lead to significant results with minimal complications.  The Tickle and micro-aire are different power assisted machines available.