Body Procedures

SmartLipo MPX Removal of Lipoma

Another common problem that can be effectively treated by SmartlipoMPX laser assisted lipoplasty is a lipoma. A lipoma is a fatty tumor that can grow under the skin anywhere on the body. They can be small and multiple, or solitary and large, or anything in between. They are cosmetically disagreeable and can cause unsightly bumps and protrusions when located on the shoulders, back or arms.

One of the problems we have had treating these lesions in the past, is that to get good access to them, you would need to make an incision. They were formerly shelled out surgically, and they had a tendency to recur because it was hard to remove all the fatty tissue. An advance came when liposuction became available. Then through a small incision, the lipoma could be broken up and removed with a liposuction cannula. This had the benefit of a reduced scar. However, with larger lipomas, there was still the difficulty of getting complete removal. Again this could lead to recurrence.

Patients certainly did appreciate having their lipomas removed with liposuction through a very small incision, even if it meant that occasionally they had to have the procedure repeated, sometimes at an interval of many years.

Now we have laser-assisted lipoplasty. This is a great advance because through the small incision, 2-3 mm, needed to access the lipoma, we can use the laser to dissolve the lipoma. The endpoint is when the fatty tumor is completely liquefied and soft and no small firm pieces can be felt under the skin. Then the cellular and oily breakdown products are extracted with a liposuction cannula.

While the removal of lipomas with laser assistance is still in the early years of use, there are reports of very good results without recurrence at one year. With large lipomas, we still first check them with a small biopsy to make sure the lipomas is a benign lesion before treatment. Rarely, these large lesions can be a cancerous form of fatty tumor known as a liposarcoma.

In summary, the use of Smartlipo MPX laser-assisted lipoma removal is a potential improvement over liposuction alone in the treatment of lipomas, particularly large ones, which have a greater tendency to recur.

This link will give you more information on the study which found efficacy in laser-assisted lipoma removal.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20064183