I went to a fascinating preceptorship/educational course on Cynosure Smart Lipo today, taught by my former residency program director Dr. Steven Ringler. There were 20 other plastic surgeons in attendance from all parts of Southeastern Michigan. Dr. Ringler performed laser-assisted liposuction with the Smart Lipo MPX machine on two patients, and it went very well.
The hottest thing in liposuction surgery right now is laser liposuction. It seems every laser company is coming out with their own laser liposuction machine. The big question is: Are there real benefits of laser liposuction over traditional tumescent liposuction? Proponents will claim that laser liposuction results in less downtime and more skin retraction (tightening). Is that really true? Also, is it safe?
With the recent publicized laser liposuction disaster by an ER doc just a few miles from me, I've been very focused on the safety of laser liposuction. The threat of burns from the laser should be foremost in every plastic surgeon's mind. One thing that I'm really impressed with is the safety mechanism that Cynosure has built into its newest Smart Lipo devices. It would be extremely difficult to burn patients with this machine, and the disaster I mentioned above was with laser liposuction by a different company's device.
One thing is for sure: laser liposuction is hot right now, and will be around for at least the foreseeable future.
Thanks for reading.
Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:
