During most liposuction procedures, I remove anywhere between 1L and 2.5L of fat. This equates to approximately 2 ½ pounds to 6 pounds of fat but bear in mind that we are talking about pure fat from localized areas. This does not equate to 2 ½ to 6 pounds of weight loss as the patient would have to lose significantly much more to remove 2 ½ to 6 pounds from localized areas. There are many cases when I’m simply removing 300 to 400 cc of fat which can make a huge difference in terms of improving a patient’s contour. The safe upper limit of fat is 5L at any one time which is 12 ½ pounds of pure fat. Most patients want as much fat removed as possible during liposuction, but this is not the important thing. What is most important is the right amount is removed from the right areas in the correct way to achieve a beautiful result.
It is important that your liposuction surgeon is not too aggressive during the procedure. Patients nor doctors should not view liposuction surgery as a procedure to remove as much as possible, but as a technique to remove as much fat required to achieve a proportional and desired end result. Swelling post-liposuction is typical after the surgery and the final outcome will not surface until at least 6-12 months.
