Can liposuction replace the need for tummy tuck?

Liposuction has significantly changed both the indications for tummy tucking, and improved the final result realized by combination of both techniques. Fifteen to twenty years ago, tummy tuck was recommended on all patients with prominent abdomens, hanging skin (pannus), weak abdominal muscle wall, and fat deposits. Today the prime indications for abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) are flaccid, hanging skin excesses with minimal fat and muscle wall defects (hernias, post-pregnancy stretching (diastasis), etc.). Due to limitations of blood supply to the abdominal area, it is typically recommended that extensive liposuction should not be performed at the same time as abdominoplasty. To do so raises the risks without materially increasing the final result. Today, it is common to perform serial or staged liposuction aimed at doing large fat volume reduction prior to the resection and removal of excess skin tissue. This permits substantial volume shrinkage resulting in a smaller amount of skin ...  more