Liposuction Glossary

Getting familiar with commonly used liposuction-related words and terms is useful. It will help in your discussion with the surgeon and also in getting a better understanding of the procedure. We have put together a liposuction glossary with frequently used words to help you.

• Anesthesia: A partial or total loss of feeling or sensation, especially pain. Surgeons inject a local anesthetic to a single area which is being treated or a general anesthetic that puts the patient to sleep.


• Breast reduction: Reducing breast size by surgery - also known as reduction mammaplasty.


• Cannula: A thin, hollow tube used during liposuction to loosen excess fat. Cannulas come in a variety of different sizes, but those used in minimally-invasive liposuction are only a few millimeters in diameter.


• Edema: This refers to swelling caused by fluid build up.


• Emulsify: Turn into liquid form; In laser liposuction, for instance, laser energy melts the fat and turns it into liquid to facilitate easy removal.


• Facelift: Also known as rhytidectomy, this surgical procedure reduces sagging in the cheeks, jowls and neck. It typically involves removal of excess fat and tightening of the skin and muscles.


• Fat Transfer: A procedure that involves injecting fat removed through liposuction to improve the size and shape of other areas of the body.


• General anesthesia: Drugs and/or gases used during an operation to relieve pain and alter consciousness.


• Hematoma: Pooling of blood beneath the skin.


• Intravenous sedation: Sedatives administered by injection into a vein to help patients relax.


• Liposuction: Also called lipoplasty or suction lipectomy, this procedure trims the body by removing excess fat deposits, and improves body contours and proportion.


• Lipoplasty: Another term for liposuction.


• Liposculpture: An alternate term for liposuction.


• Laser liposuction: Procedure that uses light from a laser to melt and remove unwanted fat and reshape the body.


• Local anesthesia: A drug is injected directly to the site of an incision during an operation to relieve pain.


• Nasolabial folds: Deep creases between the nose and mouth.


• Sedative: Medication that helps patients stay relaxed during their procedure.


• Seroma: Pooling of fluid at the liposuction site.


• Suction lipectomy: Another term for liposuction.


• Sutures: Stitches made to close an incision and hold skin and tissue together.


• Tumescent liposuction: This procedure involves the injection of a large volume of saline solution with adrenaline and possibly anesthetic before the removal of excess fat.


• Tummy tuck: Also known as abdominoplasty, this is surgical procedure to remove excess fat and skin and tighten muscles to create a flatter, firmer abdomen.


• UAL: Ultrasound Assisted Liposuction uses ultrasonic waves to break up and loosen fat cells for easy removal.


• Ultrasound: Diagnostic procedure that projects high-frequency sound waves into the body and changes the echoes into pictures.


• Ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty: Also known as ultrasonic liposuction, this procedure uses ultrasonic energy to liquefy excess before it is surgically suctioned off.