The Lipogluteoplasty in Circumferential Bodylifting

T he number of patients asking for a circumferential bodylift treatment after weight loss is rising. They seek a safe procedure with short hospitalization and a reduced down time. Therefore, a superficial preparation in body contouring surgery has gained wide acceptance in the last few years. Main characteristics are superficial fascia preservation and minor undermining. The principles of Saldanha et al 1 for the lipoab-dominoplasty do also work for the posterior part in circumferential bodylifting. In this article, I would like to share my experience with the lipogluteoplasty in cir-cumferential bodylifting of the lower trunk. More and more young people manage to lose weight through bariatric surgery or diet and exercise. These patients seek a circumferential treatment not only for functional but for aesthetic reasons. As they need to go back to their working life very soon, they appreciate a safe procedure with a low complication rate and a reduced down time. Therefore, not only for them but for all my bodylift patients, I began to use the " Fast track concept ". 2 This concept has proven viability in other surgical fields. The centerpiece of the concept is a less traumatic procedure and a reduced operating time. A more superficial preparation in the abdominal area has found more and more acceptance in the last few years. The techniques differ in detail, but they have two main characteristics in common: a superficial fascia preservation and a minor undermining in the abdominal area. In the gluteal area, I began my bodylift career years ago in raising the tissue flap on the muscle fascia. Soon after that, I raised the flap on the superficial fascia and shared my results of 50 patients in 2012. After that, I was thinking of a comparable lipoab-dominoplasty technique 1 for the gluteal area and began to transpose its principles from the anterior to the posterior region: superficial fascia preserving through liposuction, skin-only resection, no further undermining, no dead space, and less bleeding. First results were promising, and I began to use this lipo-gluteoplasty technique in all of my circumferential bodylift procedures. The drawings are the same as in conventional body-lifting with a superior and inferior resection line. The procedure starts with the liposuction between these two resection lines. The skin is thinned out completely (Fig. 1). Fat is suctioned out between the skin and the superficial fascia and slightly underneath the superficial fascia. It is not …