Liposuction Terminology

Adhesions- scar tissue which forms as a result of injury or surgery  (unlike adhesions which follow many other types of surgery, adhesions following liposuction are beneficial, in that they tend to tighten the skin).

Adiposity - a collection of fat.

Adrenaline - see epinephrine.

Aspirator - the machine which develops the suction used to perform liposuction.

Banana roll - a longitudinal (i.e. goes across the body rather than up and down) roll of fat which develops in some people between the lowermost portion of the buttock and upper back of the thigh.

Cannula - a straw-like instrument through which the fat is removed,  The "business end" of the cannula is near, but not at, its tip.  The tip is rounded, blunt, or bullet shaped, and the suction holes are on the side of the shaft near the tip.

Cellulite - a combination of excess fat in an area with uneven dermis above it, which leads to a lumpy or bumpy skin surface texture, sometimes likened to cottage cheese.

Compression Garments - special clothing worn under the regular clothes following liposuction.  The garment provides some tightening pressure on the skin and thus flattens the liposuction tunnels.  Compression garments decrease the swelling more quickly after liposuction.

Criss-cross liposuction - with smaller cannulas  used in tumescent liposuction, incisions are small and areas can be worked over from many insertion points.  Thus the tunnels can criss-cross each other and lead to less groove formation and an even skin surface following tumescent liposuction.

Dermatologic Surgeon - according to the ASDS, "A dermatologic surgeon is a physician who receives specialty training and  experience in the use of a wide variety of surgical and non-surgical modalities  to treat an entire organ -- the skin -- and its problems. Upon completion of  medical school, a dermatologic surgeon participates in a dermatology residency  training program for a minimum of three years, plus a one-year internship in  medicine or surgery. A core curriculum for dermatologic surgery in residency  programs has been established to ensure that a dermatologic surgeon demonstrates  competence in the therapeutic, reconstructive and cosmetic treatment of skin  conditions."  (In addition, some dermatologic surgeons also complete an additional one or two year fellowship training program in dermatologic surgery; a total of five or six years of post-graduate residency training)

Epinephrine - a vasoconstrictive agent commonly used in local anesthetics in medicine and dentistry.  Vasoconstictors decrease bleeding by markedly reducing the diameter of blood vessels at the site of local anesthetic use.

General Anesthesia - total body anesthesia, given by a face mask or endotracheal tube.  The drugs used to induce general anesthesia tends to cause increased bleeding due to vasodilation, or increased diameter of blood vessels.

Generalized Obesity - defined as 20% above one's ideal body weight.

Hereditary localized body fat - collections of excess fat which are localized to one or a few areas (in contrast to body-wide generalized obesity) which are genetically pre-determined sites of preferential fat storage.  As such, these deposits are extremely resistant or even unresponsive to diet or exercise.

Infusion - Refers to putting a solution into an area, as in infusion of tumescent fluid prior to liposuction.

Jowl - a sagging lower cheek area at the jawline of the face.

Lipoplasty - See Tummy Tuck

Liposculption - one of many terms introduced to describe liposuction or a version of it.

Liposculpture - one of many terms introduced to describe liposuction or a version of it.

Liposuction - removal of body fat using a tube like instrument called a cannula connected to a vaccum source.

Local Anesthetic - a drug given primarily by injection, directly to the site where pain reduction or elimination is desired.  By far the most commonly used local anesthetic in all of medicine and dentistry is lidocaine.  Lidocaine  replaced "Novocaine" because allergy to lidocaine is extremely rare or does not exist.  Interestingly, in addition to being the most widely used local anesthetic, lidocaine is also used to treat heart rhythm abnormalities.

Love handles -  a hereditary fat accumulation at the waist, primarily in men.

Obesity - see generalized obesity.

Pinch Test - a simple check to see whether liposuction may be helpful for a particular site.  The skin and fat are held or "pinched" between the thumb and the fingers, determining the amount of fat, its mobility, and the degree to which the enlarged area is due to a localized superficial fat deposit rather than abdominal musculature, intra-abdominal fat, or other structures.

Saddle Bags - term used to describe the localized, hereditary collections of fat on the lateral (outside partion) of the thigh.  The saddlebag deformity tends to occur in women.

Sedative - a medication such as Valium or Halcion commonly given orally prior to liposuction.

Spot-reduce, or Spot-reducing - (spot-reduction) to bring down a localized area of fat; usually refers to a non-surgical means.  However, localized body fat accumulations tend to be hereditary and spot-reducing is often minimally or completely ineffective.

Tumescent Anesthesia - technique for obtaining anesthesia of large areas using very dilute concentrations of local anesthetic, usually with a vasoconstricting agent.  The technique allows treatment of much larger areas than was previously possible, with far less bleeding.  Tumescent anesthesia wa developed primarily for liposuction, but is also sometimes used for other procedures including hair transplantation and dermabrasion.

Tummy Tuck - a surgical procedure to remove excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen.  Usually it is performed under general anesthesia.  The operation is performed with a scalpel, so a long scar is produced.

Turkey Neck (turkey gobbler neck) - excess fat, under the chin, resulting in a "double chin."

Ultrasonic Liposuction - see Ultrasonic Assisted Liposuction.

Ultrasonic Assisted Liposuction (UAL) - Ultrasonic liposuction, or Ultrasonic Assisted Liposuction (UAL), is a technique where ultrasound energy is applied to the fat via the cannula prior to removal of the fat.

Vasoconstrictor - a drug or "agent"  which decreases the diameter of blood vessels.  Vasoconstrictors are commonly used in local anesthetics to decrease bleeding.