The days where debulking was about the only form of liposuction surgeons performed are over. While many men and women still want volumes of fat removed, more focus is being placed on contouring, special surgeries, and smaller areas where liposuction and fat grafting are administered.
More specifically, microliposuction is increasingly popular to shape the body, face, and neck. In addition, nanofat grafting is being used in both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. Specialized procedures like transgender surgery are on the rise. As a result, surgeons need to be aware of the challenges and implications of these procedures as well as the devices they’ll need to perform these surgeries.
How are Liposuction and Fat Grafting Changing?
Plastic surgery is quickly evolving into an industry that combines multiple disciplines to produce the best and safest cosmetic and functional outcomes. For instance, the same techniques you use for body contouring will be applied to facial contouring as well as repairing facial scars. You’ll also find yourself combining numerous therapies to reach the aesthetic and functional results your patients desire. Let’s consider how liposuction is evolving.
Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery
Fat grafting is being used to address both aesthetic and functional concerns, particularly those involving the face and breasts.
Fat Grafting for Breast Reconstruction
In the past, women had minimal options when it came to breast reconstruction whether it was losing both or one breasts. However, those odds are changing and plastic surgeons are changing their approach to reconstructive surgery. Your clients can now choose from implants, flaps, or fat grafting and possibly a combination of these procedures. For example, you might combine implants and fat grafting to balance, shape, and enlarge your patient’s reconstructed breast.
Several case studies have emerged in recent years showing breast reconstruction with just fat grafting or when paired with implants can shape, balance, and enhance the breasts. It opens the door for improved aesthetics as well as more options to patients who may not want implants.
Treating facial scars and discoloration
Nanofat grafting is on the rise because it can serve as a filler for facial rejuvenation and treat scars and skin discolorations. In a case study featured in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 52 patients were successfully treated with nanofat grafting for facial scars, wrinkles, and skin discoloration.
Changes in Aesthetic Surgery
Surgeons can expect to contour the body more, including smaller areas of the body like the face. Furthermore, demands for nanofat grafting and microliposuction to shape even the slimmest of bodies and faces will likely rise.
Body and Facial Contouring
The demand for body contouring has continued to rise over the years, but you may be using the same techniques for facial contouring. The use of fat grafting for facial rejuvenation is increasing because it can treat wrinkles, volume loss, scars, and more. It’s also popular among patients because it’s a natural treatment.
The surgical demands for facial and body contouring increasingly require surgeons to have specialized skills and equipment to meet the patient’s needs. Some patients want debulking along with sculpting procedures, while others who are slimmer want more symmetrical curves. Facial contouring, on the other hand, is quickly turning into a procedure that not only rejuvenates the face and neck but also gives patients the shape they desire.
Challenges of Transwomen Surgery and Gender Reassignment Surgery
The number of gender reassignment surgeries performed increases every year. According to a case study in JAMA Surgery:
In this population-based study of 37 827 gender-affirming surgical encounters, genital surgery increased over time and most patients undergoing these procedures were self-payers. The number of patients seeking these procedures who were covered by Medicare or Medicaid increased from 2012 to 2014 by 3-fold.
The increase in gender reassignment surgeries is due to several factors, such as: it’s now more socially acceptable, financially affordable, and advanced enough to meet the aesthetic and functional needs of patients.
Surgeries for transwomen and transmen pose different challenges. Transwoman surgery requires delicate liposuction and fat transfers to the breasts, hips, thighs, and buttocks, as well as liposuction to the waist to give your patient the natural curves they desire. Transmen often need large volume liposuction procedures to give them the natural aesthetics they want.
What Type of Liposuction Products Will Surgeons Need?
As more processes and procedures evolve liposuction and fat grafting, surgeons will need versatile tools that allow them to move quickly and efficiently while allowing them to adjust their approach as they perform surgery. Likewise, they’ll need powerful liposuction devices that can remove tough, fibrous fat but are also gentle enough to remove fat from more delicate areas like the face. Moreover, surgeons will need devices that allow them to perform liposuction safely such as presetting tumescent anesthesia to prevent toxicity and smaller, special assessors for finessing their results.
How Can Möller Medical Help?
At Moeller Medical, our full suite of liposuction devices are engineered with the quality Germany is known for, creating powerful, comfortable, and durable products surgeons can rely on. Feel free to contact us, so we can tell you how our products can help you meet the growing needs in liposuction and fat grafting.
