A patient desiring abdominal liposuction has excess fat tissue removed from his or her abdomen, what is commonly known as the midriff, roughly from the area of the pelvic bones to the rib cage. Many patients feel this excess fat hinders mobility as well as being unsightly. When traditional exercise regimens fail, a patient may opt for a surgical solution.

A patient is administered general anesthesia when undergoing abdominal liposuction. They are put to sleep under the care of an anesthesiologist. Once the desired state of anesthesia is reached, a surgeon makes a small incision and inserts a cannula to remove the required amount of abdominal fat. A cannula is a tube with one open end that removes the undesired fat while the other end is connected to a suction device that collects what is removed.

The desired benefit for the patient is that he or she is quickly free of excessive abdominal fat that exercise could not remove. This is usually done as a same day surgery, meaning that the patient returns home in the evening. As a relatively simple procedure, there are few side effects and recovery time is speedy. Patients are advised to resume regular exercise once their physician recommends it, but the results of abdominal liposuction produce an outcome that may not have been possible through exercise alone. The advice of a board certified surgeon is key to achieving a successful outcome.

The recovery from abdominal liposuction varies from patient to patient. Pain associated with the procedure is usually minimal, requiring no more than over the counter pain relief like Tylenol to deal with the accompanying soreness that follows. Most patients report that the pain is no more than they would experience after an intense exercise session. There will be bruising and swelling, but these quickly resolve as the patient’s body adapts to its new shape. The size of the cannulas used and the amount of tissue removed also affects recovery. Smaller cannulas cause less stress to the body while a large amount of removed fat places more stress on the body. Your surgeon can advise you best of what to expect following surgery.

As with any surgery there are risks. The anesthetist will explain the risks of general anesthesia. Your surgeon will explain the risks of his or her particular approach to the abdominal liposuction but they are minimal compared to more extensive and invasive procedures.

Patients experience long term benefits from abdominal liposuction that outweigh the short term effects of recovery. With less body mass and a smaller percentage of body fat, patients enjoy improved health and less risk of progressive diseases caused by being overweight. Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol risks are lowered. In addition to these gains in long term health there are cosmetic benefits that come from removing excess abdominal fat. Self-esteem and self-image are boosted because this is a voluntary procedure that reinforces the body image the patient already has of his or herself.