Another great little paper out of my recent May 2015 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. “Is there a Safe Lipoaspirate volume? A Risk Assessment Model of Liposuction Volume as a Function of BMI Based on TOPS Data.” This was a study out of Northwestern University.
Background: There is controversy around what is the safe maximum volume permissible of fat removed in a single surgery. The current recommendation is 5 liters. They were looking at is this number the right number? They wanted to see if volume removed should vary with BMI.
Methods: They looked at the dynamic relationship between liposuction volume versus the BMI, and did regression models. They wanted to adjust for potential confounding variables.
Findings: 11,615 patients had done liposuction, with 542 of those meeting large volume criteria (5L).
- Post of complication rates did not differ significantly between large volume (>5L) and standard volume (<5L) cohorts.
- Liposuction volume and BMI were significant independent risk factors for complications
- **HOWEVER when looking at these variables together, increasing BMI has a protective effect on the risk with increased liposuction volume removed.
Conclusion:
Their analysis did not support having an absolute number cut off. Instead, they think there is a dynamic relationship between BMI and the amount of fat removed by liposuction. They do not think there should be an absolute number for safety cutoff or impression of risk.