DALLAS, May 5  Four in five patients who underwent liposuction for body sculpting reported being satisfied with the procedure, and 86% said they would recommend the procedure to others, according to results of a patient satisfaction survey.
"Liposuction is one of the most satisfying procedures for patients and most effective at eliminating localized fat," said Jeffrey Kenkel, M.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center here. Results of the survey by Dr. Kenkel and colleagues were published in the May issue of the journal Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.
Action Points
- Explain to interested patients that in a patient satisfaction survey, which has statistical limitations, four in five of those who underwent liposuction reported being satisfied with the procedure, despite the fact that 43% had weight gain after surgery, and 65% had return of fat to treated or untreated areas.
- These results should be interpreted with caution because they were based on voluntary patient satisfaction surveys, and could be subject to reporting bias.
"The majority of patients recognize their role in maintaining positive results and pursue a healthy diet and exercise," Dr. Kenkel said. "These patients typically maintain or lose weight after surgery, while those that do not may gain small amounts of weight. Ultimately, one's lifestyle can affect long term-results."
Among 209 survey respondents, slightly more than half of patients who underwent liposuction (57%) reported no weight change or a weight loss after the procedure. But the remaining 43% of patients reported gaining weight, with 56% of this group having put on five to 10 pounds six months after surgery.
In addition, 65% of patients reported having a return of fat in the treated or non-treated areas.
Yet "despite postoperative pain, fat return, and weight gain, patients were willing to have the procedure again and recommend it to others," the authors wrote. "Those patients who were unsatisfied and were less likely to refer patients were those who had the lowest opinion of their appearance."
The authors mailed 600 questionnaires to all patients who had liposuction performed by two surgeons between 1999 and 2003. A total of 209 surveys were returned (34.8%).
The liposuction was most commonly performed on the thighs and abdomen, followed by the hips, buttocks and knees, the authors found.
In all, 80% of respondents reported being satisfied with their results, with 53% rating their post-liposuction appearance as either excellent or very good."
Weight gain was reported by 43% of participants, and of this group, 56% had gained five to 10 pounds six months after their surgery. Two thirds of respondents (65%) reported fat return, with those who had abdominal fat liposuction having the highest frequency of fat return. About one in three patients with liposuction of abdominal fat saw it come back, the investigators found.
"As a group, 79.7 % would have the procedure again and 86 % would recommend the procedure to family or friends," the authors wrote.
Slightly more than half of those who rated their results as fair or poor said they would recommend the procedure, compared with 85% to 96% of patients who rated their results as very good or excellent.
About 75 % of responders described their postoperative discomfort as mild to moderate, and 60% said that their discomfort lasted less than a week. Most patients who required narcotics for their pain needed to use it for less than seven days.
"Those patients who are unsatisfied and are less likely to refer patients are those who have the lowest opinion of their appearance," the investigators wrote. "This reinforces the mantra that there needs to be proper preoperative patient selection and preoperative discussion of realistic postoperative results and expectations."
Primary Source
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Source Reference: Broughton GB et al. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 117: 1738, 2006.