This post is a compressed form of an article recently published in The Plastic Surgery News.
Lipo alternatives make impressive claims but lack long-term data
By Lynn Yoffee
Advertising campaigns for nonsurgical or less-invasive alternatives to traditional liposuction – purportedly with no down time, no surgery and no worries – dangle tantalizing claims to an eager public while plastic surgeons are often left waiting for proof of safety and efficacy “Patients are fascinated with these non-invasive ways of having fat removed,” says ASPS Member Surgeon Robert Centeno, MD. “Their appetite for non-invasive treatment is insatiable. But the marketing by the manufacturers is far ahead of the clinical trial data.”
More than 300,000 liposuction procedures were performed in 2007, according to ASPS statistics garnered from the National Clearinghouse of Plastic Surgery Statistics.
