Liposuction: Info, Prices, Photos, Reviews, Q&A

Liposuction can be done in small areas (such as the neck) or large areas, like the thighs and abdomen. Liposuction can be done in a hospital with an overnight stay, or in an outpatient setting.

The amount of fat removed is usually measured by the volume aspirated (sucked out) as opposed to it’s weight. For safety reasons, the American Society of Plastic Surgery recommends limiting liposuction to 4-5 liters (a little over a gallon) in an outpatient setting.

Whether you can address all the areas you want “done” at one time will be determined by how much fat you want removed in each place. For large amounts of fat, it may take two sessions. (Robert J. Carpenter, MD, Cumberland Plastic Surgeon)

Varies by State, Regulated by State Medical Boards

The amount of fat that can be safely removed is regulated by each state. In New Jersey, we are allowed to remove up to 5 liters of fat during one laser liposuction procedure.

If you have multiple areas that you are interested in treating with a significant amount of fat – you may need more than one treatment, as taking out more than 5 liters increases the risk of swelling, bruising, and infection. (Mitchell Chasin, MD, Livingston Physician)

Tumescent Liposuction performed in an outpatient setting is a body contouring procedure. Many patients have the impression that they will lose a significant amount of weight after lipo.

I remind them, before or during their consultation, that the primary goal is to improve their shape and they may lose two to four pounds, but again weight loss is not our goal.

Five liters of fat removed during outpatient Lipo is the maximum volume recommended. (Mark Hennessy, MD, Houston Physician)

The advised upper limit on fat removal at one time is 5 liters. This translates into 10-12 pounds. This is a considerable amount. You could have this done a second time with a reasonable number of months between liposuctions. (Fred Suess, MD, San Francisco Plastic Surgeon)

5 liters maximum removal

With liposuction procedures, the standard safe guideline for outpatient surgery is 5-liters. This is due to potential shifts electrolytes with exceesive volume removal. (David Amron, MD, Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon)

How much fat can be removed?!

The maximum safe limit of volume removal is 5 liters in one session. This keeps it safe for the patient. Within the 5 liters there is a certain amount of fat. This amount varies between patients because of what is truly fat within the pinch.

The average amount of fat within the 5 liters is about 2-3 liters. That’s a 2 liter soda bottle and more. (Justin Yovino, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

A maximum of 5 L per session

Most Board Certified Plastic surgeons will follow the recommendation of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons on this matter: a maximum of 5 L per session (equal to 11 pounds). This is a general advice and should be tailored more by your board certified plastic surgeon depending on body type, weight, height as well as intraoperative findings. Trying to push the limit could be dangerous.(Hisham Seify, MD, PhD, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)

Cool Lipo is a laser assisted liposuction. It is a minimally invasive surgery that uses Laser to melt fat that is combined with Tumescent Liposuction. You can safely remove up to 5 liters of fat with this treatment.

That would be about 11 pound of fat as the maximum that can be safely removed. Cool Sculpting is a different non invasive treatment that doesnt remove fat but freezes the fat cells and some fat volume is lost over a 3- 6 month period as a result.

The amount of fat that is lost varies but is quite a bit less than can be removed with liposuction or laser assisted liposuction. (Thomas Wright, MD, Saint Louis Phlebologist)