Will Most Surgeons Draw on Your Body Before Liposuction?

In my experience, the vast majority of surgeons will mark for two reasons: One is to confirm the areas discussed and to be treated as well as the incisions planned but also to delineate areas in the standing position that may change when a patient lies down on the operating table and makes these areas less prominent.

After the local anesthetic is infiltrated into the areas that are to be treated with liposuction, there can be some obliteration of landmarks from the swelling of the fluids. It is very helpful for me to see the areas that I have marked with my patients awake and standing up prior to liposuction, during the actual surgery. Furthermore, it helps the patient and me agree that we are both thinking along the same lines of which areas will be treated.

During your office visit, your plastic surgeon may draw on you to confirm and show you exactly where liposuction will be performed.  Also, he/ she may show you where the liposuction cannulae incisions need to be made.  These incisions are usually quite small, about 2-5 millimeters long and hidden in folds of your body.

Right before surgery, virtually all plastic surgeons will draw on your body while in the standing up position to ensure that both of you are on the same page regarding areas of liposuction. 

Best of luck with your possible procedure!

Dear Megan:

I mark my patients with them standing-up in the preop area right before performing liposuction. This serves as a topographical map of where the fat is. Since the skin, and fat, will shift when changing from standing to laying down, these drawings can be critical guide to obtaining a good result.

While can serve as a confirmation of the areas to treated, the drawing is part of the operation, and "final approval" of the operative plan should happen before heading for the operating room. The plan should be determined before the consent forms are signed. This occurs in the office at a preoperative appointment.

Dear Megan

It is critical that your surgeon understand your health status prior to surgery.   Liposuction is surgery.  The blood work does not "Map Areas and Help You See the Plan."  Blood work is done where medically indicated.  Each surgeon will have a different idea of what needs to be investigated.  The type of anesthesia and the size of the liposuction will influence this decision making process.  Also the nature of your health history very much affects this.  Typical lab work will include a complete blood count, a set of tests called a comprehensive metabolic panel, often serology to learn if you harbor a viral infection like HIV or hepatitis., and for sexually active women, a serum pregnancy tests.  Some surgeons will investigate your coagulation system but it is not clear that this is any more meaningful that questioning your history regarding bleeding.  This blood work has very little to do with the plan for fat removal and everything to do with your health and your ability to tolerate the planned surgery.   Those with heart or lung problems will warrant a detailed assessment of those systems as well. Many states have mandates that patients have some type of health assessment prior to any liposuction.  The State agency that licenses doctors in Georgia may have this information posted on their website for consumers.    

Regarding: "Will Most Surgeons Draw on Your Body Before Liposuction?
Will Most Surgeons Draw on You B4 Liposuction to Map Areas and Help You See the Plan? To help avoid any miscommunication and get final approval from pt on areas that will be included or not included."

I cannot think of a Plastic surgeon who does not mark his patients before body contouring procedures such as Liposuction, Tummy Tuck, Butt Lift, Lower boy Lift among others. The markings serve multiple purposes. They
- visually confirm to the patient what the surgeon is planning on doing and in which locations on their body
- it gives the surgeon working parameters in the standing position, the one the world sees you in, which go away once the patient lays down
- it allows the surgeon to plan the sequence of the operation and to minimize needless turning and scar placement

Dr. Peter Aldea

I always mark my patients prior to any procedure, including liposuction.  It seems to be it would be very difficult to get the result needed by simply "eyeballing" on the table.  That being said, there are probably some board certified plastic surgeons who can do just that.

This is usually done in a standing position. The patient herself (or hisself) has the opportunity to point out the specific nuances desired.

Once the person lies down, and the numbing fluid is infiltrated, the landmarks become less visible; so the importance of the markings is paramount. 

Presurgical markings are absolutely paramount before any liposuction procedure. Most importantly, it ensures communication between the patient and the surgeon so that what is done in surgery is what has been agreed upon beforehand. It is also provides a roadmap during the procedure to correctly identify the fat areas to be removed. There is no way any liposuction procedure can be accurately done without these markings.

Whenever I perform body liposuction, I mark my patients prior to anesthesia in order to create my surgical plan, answer any last minute questions and confirm the plan with the patient. I also take the "before" photographs at this time. All of this helps to clarify communication with the patient.