MICROLIPOSCULPTURE OF THE LOWER LIMBS

It is a surgical technique used to remove, once and for all, the localized cellulite by improving the contour of lower limbs, often remarkably.

Among all the techniques that are suggested against women’s most popular blemish, this is certainly the least aggressive,  i.e. the one that more than any other else takes care of vascular structures, so numerous in lower limbs.

This technique was defined some years ago by Dr. Francesco Artale, and has recently been made even less invasive. It envisages the reshaping of legs and gluteus in local anaesthesia, without any blood loss or visibile scars and allows almost immediately to go back to work.

Microliposculpture can be applied to aged people, too.

The contour of lower limbs, starting from the hips and ending to the ankle, depends upon the quantity of flat on them.
The number of adipose cells in fat pockets is not linked to either diet or sedentary life, but it’s constitutional and often hereditary.
Adipose cells are most frequently localized on hips, on the outer and inner side of thighs, on the knees where often remarkable deformities develop.
This kind of  cellulite is called localized, also to distinguish it from the “diffused” one where there is no real localization and the legs are entirely  fat.
While for the diffused cellulite there are several medical methodologies which can undoubtedly improve the situation, even if they do not completely solve the problem, for localized cellulite – i.e. for definite changes in the contour of the legs – surgical techniques are the only chance of achieving a visible and definitive result.
Liposuction was the first technique to be carried out in the past and it certainly achieved some fairly good results but it was risky because of its aggressiveness and the need of operating in general anaesthesia.
During the last few years liposuction turned into what is today called liposculpture and more recently the microliposculpture defined by Dr. Artale, an Angiologist and Vascular Surgeon.
Here follow the differences and the reasons why nowadays this is one of the safest methods to improve the contour of the legs.

  before and after              

  Taking care of circulation ...
Both for localized and diffused cellulite an accurate circulation check is absolutely needed above all for the venous circulation. A vascular examination, by means of an instrumental analysis such as Doppler exam, is underlying, it is as simple as it is essential in order to exclude pathologies of the lower limbs which could contra-indicate the operation.
Every kind of surgical operation on lower limbs must be carried out with total care of the circulation, above all if it is performed for aesthetic reasons.
On this porpuse a narrow cannula is used so that the trauma on the surrounding tissues and above all on vascular structures is minimized thus allowing a speedier recovery and the total absence of haematomas.
Not only the small size of the cannula, but also its direction and the way in which it is used let the circulation not being affected at all; the cannula is in fact linked to a syringe in plastic and not to a vacuum-pressure unit suctioning off the fat which is certainly more aggressive.
The adipose cells container in the fat pockets are manually suctioned off with very careful and accurate movements which undoubtedly require a long experience and vascular expertise.
At the end of the operation no stitches will be needed: a simple and small plaster will be enough to cover the microincision without leaving any visible scar.

  before and after             

In local anaesthesia ...
The first great advantage of this kind of operation is that of being performed, always and only, in  local anaesthesia.
Collateral effects and troubles inevitably caused by a general anaesthesia are thus prevented: hospitalization is also avoided because patients undergoing surgical treatments for aesthetic aims dont’t like that.
On the contrary, local anaesthesia can be performed in a facility which will be of course equipped with full hospital treatment, but only on an outpatient basis.
Local anaesthesia means that the patient is fully awake and conscious and, at the end of operation, can immediately go home and, on following day, back to work without any convalescence.
Local anaesthesia allows, furthermore, to see the patient in a standing position.
The anaesthetic which is used for this kind of operation is the same used by a dentist during the extraction of a tooth.

Which results?
This operation cannot of course work wonders but if the guidelines are correct and the surgeon is skilled, excellent results can certainly be achieved.
However through a small one millimeter hole even remarkable amounts of fat can be suctioned off, reducing by several centimeters the contour of the legs.
A double operation is preferred where there are great amounts of adipose tissue always in order to take care of the patient’s circulation and of his health.
The areas where the best results are achieved are hips, inner side of thighs and knees.
The more localized the adipose cells will be, the better will be the results.
Adipose cells cannot reproduce once they are definitively removed, so leaving the result achieved unchanged for years.
The first advantage, the aesthetic one, is perhaps the most appreciated, but the long term benefits gained from the whole circulation by removing the fat in excess should not be underestimated.
Legs without cellulite are more beautiful, but they are also healthier.                                             
                                                                         

Francesco Artale, MD
President of European Society of   Microliposculpture