The history of liposculpture


1920's: First attempt of fat removal

The first attempt to remove fat for aesthetic reasons goes back to the 1920's.

It was a french surgeon, Dr. Charles Dujarrier, who attempted to remove excessive fat from the knees and calves of a ballerina. He used a curette, a little medical instrument in the shape of a spoon that is intended to scrape the skin clean.

During the operation an important vein was damaged and amputation followed.

1960's: New attempts

After a long period, surgeons are again experimenting to remove fat.

Some of them were trying to remove the fat by cutting away whole bloc's of skin and fat at the same time, the big noticable scars certainly didn't contribute to this technique.
Other were still using the curette by making small incisions through which they scraped away the fat.

1975: Big breakthrough

Probably the biggest breakthrough in modern liposculpture comes from Arpad Fischer & his son Giorgio Fischer, two Americans working in Rome at the time.

They invented the first real liposculpture device by developing a cannula (a blunt, hollow tube) which was connected to a suction device.

Along with this new device they developed the technique of making several small incisions to insert the cannula. This technique is referred to as the cross tunneling technique and is still used in liposculpture today.

Good results were obtained but the dry liposuction still had disadvantages, mainly the severe blood loss and dents in the treated areas.

1982: Wet liposculpture

The next big break comes in 1982 when the french surgeon, Dr. Yves-Gerard Illouz, injects a saline solution in the areas to be treated.
This reduces not only the bleeding but also makes it easier to remove the fat.
This technique is known as "wet liposuction"

1987: Tumescent liposculpture

In 1987 the Californian dermatologist, Dr. Jeffrey A. Klein, published and demonstrated the results on his experiments.

He discovered that by adding lidocaine and epinephrine, greater amounts of fat could be removed with very little bleeding and less post operative swelling and pain.
Also, due to the sedating effect of the lidocaine, the liposculpture could be carried out under local anesthesia.
The injected solution is often referred to as "Klein solution", named after his inventor.

This tumescent liposculpture technique, developed by Dr. Klein is the most used technique in modern liposculpture.

1990: New devices

The tumescent technique is being used but new devices are developd and tested.
Ultrasonic and external ultrasonic don't seem to have advantages and are abandoned or rarely used.

A new device that does deliver better result and is widely used, if not the standard, in liposculpture today, is the power assisted cannula.

This technique, when using this device, is called the vibro-liposculpture.