What is Tumescent liposuction?

Liposuction is the removal of unwanted bulges of localized fat deposits from areas that are out of proportion to your body regardless of your weight. The fat is removed by inserting a suction canula into the undesired areas. Liposuction was invented in the 1970's in France and became available in the United States in the early 1980's. The way it was originally designed, patients required general anesthesia and it is still the method most commonly used by plastic surgeons. Under properly trained hands it is relatively safe procedure, but some of the potential complications are hemorrhage, infection, and complications from general anesthesia.

In 1985, the art of liposuction was revolutionized by the development of Tumescent liposuction; a procedure developed by Jeffrey A. Klein MD, a dermatologist from Southern California. When one properly follows Dr. Klein's technique, the entire procedure can be done under lcoal anesthesia. There is virtually no bleeding and one avoids the potential complications of general anesthesia. It enables the surgeon to use microcanulas (ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 mm in diameter) allowing the procedure to be significantly less tramatic and the recovery much faster; enabling patients to go back to work as early as one to two days.

At Skin and Cosmetic Solutions, Dr. Puente, who was trained by Dr. Jeffrey Klein, has been performing Tumescent liposuction since 1994. As of June 30, 2000 Dr. Puente has performed Tumescent liposuction on 1200 patients (5,400 areas) without a single complication.