Functional and Therapeutic Indications of Liposuction: Personal Experience and Review of the Literature

Liposuction is the most common cosmetic surgical procedure worldwide. It has evolved from being designed primarily for body contouring to becoming essential adjunct to various other aesthetic procedures, greatly enhancing their outcome. Despite its hard clear differentiation between an aesthetic and therapeutic indication for some pathologic conditions, liposuction has been increasingly applied to a gamut of disorders as a therapeutic tool or to improve function. In fact, liposuction has ceased to define a specific procedure and became synonymous to a surgical technique or tool same as the surgical knife, laser, electrocautery, suture material, or even wound-dressing products. At present, there seems to be an enormous potential for the application of the basic liposuction technique in ablative and reconstructive surgery outside the realm of purely aesthetic procedures. The present review contemplates the various nonaesthetic applications of liposuction, displaying the enormous potentials of what should be considered a basic surgical technique rather than a specific aesthetic procedure. Implications of this new definition of liposuction should induce third-party public payers and insurance companies to reconsider their remuneration and reimbursement policies.