To Stitch Or To Not Stitch Liposuction Incisions; That Is The Question

Liposuction involves making short incisions in a person's skin and inserting a tube called a cannula into the cavity

. Once the tube has successfully sucked broken fat cells from the area, it is removed. The incisions are treated differently by various surgeons. Some use stitching to close each incision, but others leave them open to drain. Learn the pros and cons of these methods for healing.

For better or worse, true liposuction requires opening the skin to remove the fat. Although some products and methods promise that fat can be removed without surgery, these methods are not true liposuction and are considered in this article.

Many methods are used to assist basic liposuction, but all of them involve the surgeon making many incisions in the affected area of the body. The incisions are not usually very deep because most of the fat that can be safely removed is soft superficial fat that is located just below the skin. They are also kept small, shorter than an inch most of the time. In certain sensitive areas of the body such as the breasts, tiny micro incisions are made that are barely visible to the naked eye. This is done so that little or no scarring will occur.

After an incision has been made, a cannula is inserted into the cavity. It is moved around carefully to break the water swollen fat cells. They break easily and their liquidly contents are then sucked out through the cannula. At the same time, liquids are flushed into the cavity that keep the area numb and minimize blood loss.

Originally, surgeons would always stitch up the incisions when the surgery was finished. This seemed like a good idea because stitching up wounds reduced the likelihood of infection. Even today, some surgeons still do things this way. When this is the case, the stitches are generally left in for a few days and then removed at a follow-up appointment.

The problem with using stitches is that liquid tends to build up in the cavities and the body has a hard time getting rid of it. This was a problem for so many people that surgeons began experimenting with leaving the incisions open to drain on their own after surgery. This is the most common method used today.

When incisions are left open to drain, it can be kind of messy business for the patient. They have to wear tight absorbent bandages for two or three days following surgeries. These bandages act like feminine pads and soak up all the blood or other liquids that drain from the incisions. They have to be changed regularly.

Although leaving the incisions open may increase the risk of infection, the risk can be minimized with a few good practices. Keeping the affected area clean and changing the bandages regularly can help with this. And open-drained incisions usually heal very nicely and leave little scarring.

No matter what method the surgeon uses, scars usually are not particularly noticeable and fade within a few months or a year.

by: Christian Heftel

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