Authors' objectives:

The aim of this report is to assess the efficacy/effectiveness and the safety of internal ultrasound lipoplasty (I-UAL) according to the data available in the literature.

Authors' recommendations: I-UAL is less traumatic than LT, since the traditional mechanical avulsion procedure is substituted by fat emulsion; additionally, ultrasound energy used in I-UAL acts specifically on the fat tissue, preserving denser neurovascular structures and connective tissue adjacent to the treated area. Despite the use of local anesthesia as one of the components of the infiltration solution, the type of anesthesia is basically determined, aside from the patient's general status, by the existence of concomitant procedures, the number and characteristics of adiposities in the treated areas, and other technological factors. Depending on these, I-UAL may be performed in an out-patient procedure. The limited number of studies on I-UAL, the small size of their samples, and the short follow up period, besides the existence of variations in the equipment, make it difficult to issue final conclusions on its efficacy/effectiveness. However, some considerations may be noted: higher effectiveness in the treatment of fibrotic adipose areas, lesser workload for both surgeon and surgical team, similar results to LT in patient's and surgeon's satisfaction, in the lifting effect (the achieved degree of contraction/retraction of the skin); on the other side, in I-UAL emulsion and lipoaspirate evacuation stages are longer. The application of I-UAL in some specific areas (mainly neck, face, breast, internal thigh, knee, ankle) is controversial, due to their proximity to vessels and nerves. Further research is needed to ascertain this procedure's degree of safety in these areas. Short term complications (seroma, dysesthesia, discolouration and skin surface irregularities, as well as skin thermic lesions), though not very frequent, deserve further consideration, mainly due to their potential severity and may be avoided with appropriately performed procedures. Long term complications of the application of ultrasounds in these tissues are not so clear. Surgeons experienced in LT may be easily trained to perform I-UAL, given the simplicity of its characteristics. However, training may be longer in non-experienced surgeons.

Authors' methods: Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.gencat.net/salut/depsan/units/aatrm/html/en/dir393/doc7921.ht ml

Year Published: 1999

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Spain

Organisation Name: Agencia de Qualitat i Avaluacio Sanitries de Catalunya

Contact Address: Antoni Parada, CAHTA, Roc Boronat, 81-95 (2nd floor), 08005 Barcelona, Spain, Tel. +34 935 513 928, Fax: +34 935 517 510

Contact Name: direccio@aatrm.catsalut.net / aparada@aatrm.catsalut.net

Contact Email: direccio@aatrm.catsalut.net / aparada@aatrm.catsalut.net

Copyright: Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research