Patient selection, planning, and marking in ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty

The ideal ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty candidate differs little from the ideal candidate for traditional lipoplasty. This ideal candidate is within 20% of their ideal body weight (as determined by the insurance company statistics; i.e., 100 lbs for 5 feet in height, and 10 pounds for each inch above 5 feet). These patients were thought to be the only patients acceptable for lipoplasty when liposuction was first begun in the early 1980s. Innovative techniques, improved equipment, advances in superficial liposuction, syringe method, ultrasonic lipoplasty, external ultrasound assist, and other factors have served to expand the potential patient population greatly.