This case depicts a 33 year old woman who was fit, slender and had never been pregnant. She had, however, a genetic tendency to accumulate fat in the mid-body- front and back. Because she had excellent skin tone and skin elasticity, this type of individual was the optimal candidate for liposuction.

Once the excess fat is removed from beneath the skin, the skin will shrink down and hug the new body contour without any sagging. The incisions required for this type of body contouring are a few millimeters in length. Notice the significant change in this woman's body shape to a desirable "hourglass".

This is a 32 year old woman with a BMI of 24 who underwent mid-body liposuction using ultrasound assisted liposuction.  She had borne one child and had a few stretch marks over her anterior abdomen.  Typically, such patients are better candidates for an abdominoplasty, but this woman's skin elasticity was fairly intact and her abominal wall muscles had not been overly stretched by the pregnancy either.  She very much wished to avoid any scarring over her abdomen.  She and I were both willing to accept a minor amount of skin looseness and so after much discussion, I proceeded with ultrasound assisted liposuction of her entire trunk, front and back.

Her result shows a significant improvement with which she is quite pleased.  Other individuals who wished to have "tight" skin would achieve an exceptional result with a lipoabdominoplasty, which would entail an 10 to 12 inch long scar in the lower abdomen.

This case depicts a 41 year old woman who had borne one child via c-section. Because her skin had remained relatively undamaged by the distensing effects of pregnancy, she elected to undergo abdominal recontouring by liposuction, A previous pregnancy does not indicate that an individual is not a candidate for liposuction of the abdomen.

In some instances, both liposuction and an abdominoplasty may be possible. Each has different pros and cons, which must be discussed prior to selecting the appropriate method. The post-operative photographs depict this woman's appearance approximately 3 months after surgery.

This is a 21 year old woman with a BMI of 25.5 who had borne one child and became very displeased with the contour of her abdomen as a result.  She had already been told that she had an umbilical hernia and wished to undergo repair of both issues at the same time.

She underwent lipoabdominoplasty, a procedure that treats the front of the abdomen by safely combining liposuction and abdominoplasty, along with liposuction of the bilateral anterior flanks, which refers to the front half of the "sides" of the body.  Her umbilical hernia was repaired at the same time by Scott Belsley, MD, FACS, a board certified general surgeon, using a biological mesh that is incorporated into the body's own tissues over time.  Dr. Scott Belsley and I often collaborate on cases that involve both plastic surgical and general surgical issues.

This 25 year old woman with a preoperative BMI of 31.8 underwent abdominoplasty along with circumferential liposuction.  This procedure treats the trunk or mid-section of the body as one unit all the way around.  I believe that this method results in a more harmonious result than treating just the front with an abdominoplasty or just the back with liposuction.  

In my practice, I tend to use ultrasound assisted liposuction to perform liposuction of the back, because I feel that in my hands, this technique allows me to remove more fat, more thoroughly than other forms of liposuction.

I try to keep the lower abdominal scar low enough such that it is not difficult to find a number of swimsuit choices will cover it without difficulty and also as short as possible- usually less than 12 inches in length.