Skin retraction after liposuction in patients over the age of 40

BACKGROUND. A commonly held misperception regarding liposuction in patients over 40 years of age is that the skin will not retract and redrape followi ng removal of the fat. OBJECTIVE. In order to evaluate tissue retraction in the abdomen, neck, and arms in patients undergoing liposuction after 40 years of age, the followi ng study was conducted. METHOD. A total of 58 patients ranging in age from 40 to 75 years underwent liposuction. Thirty had liposuction of the abdomen, 20 had liposuction of the neck, and 8 had liposuction of the arms. Measurements in inches and wei ght in pounds were recorded before and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the proc edure. RESULTS. Ninety percent of the patients were women. The rest of the patient s were men. The average age of the patients undergoing liposuction of the a bdomen was 55 years old. The average supranatant fat extracted from these p atients was 1725 mi, with an average lidocaine dose of 36 mg/kg of body wei ght. The patients who had liposuction of the abdomen demonstrated an averag e weight loss of 5 Ib and a decrease of 3 inches in waistline 6 months afte r the procedure. For those patients who had liposuction of the neck, the av erage age was 57 years old. The average supranatant fat extracted from thes e patients was 75 mi, with an average lidocaine dose of 4 mg/kg of body wei ght. The patients who had liposuction of the neck decreased an average of 1 .3 inches in circumference without any weight change 6 months after the pro cedure. For those patients having liposuction of the arms, the average age was 44 years. The average supranatant fat extracted from these patients was 525 ml, with an average lidocaine dose of 16 mg/kg of body weight. The pat ients who had liposuction of the arms had an average of 0.5 inch decrease i n circumference without any weight change 6 months after the procedure. The cosmetic results were good to excellent. Our highest lidocaine dose occurr ed in a patient having suction of the abdomen and was 71 mg/kg of body weig ht. No patients experienced any objective or subjective signs of lidocaine toxicity. CONCLUSION. Tumescent liposuction of the abdomen, neck, and arms is a safe alternative for contour improvement with good cosmetic results in patients over 40 years of age.