Aesth Plast Surg (2010) 34:239–243 Table 1 Change in the measurements of 101 women (F) and 10 men (M)a,b Age (years) Upper abdomen (F)c (cm) Mid abdomen (F)c (cm) Lower abdomen (F)c (cm) Upper abdomen (M)d (cm) Mid abdomen (M)d (cm) Lower abdomen (M)d (cm) Right thigh (F)e (cm) Left thigh (F)e (cm) 20–29 Before 73.7 ± 7.1 79.9 ± 7.0 85.9 ± 6.9 82.8 ± 4.5 85.3 ± 1.8 86.3 ± 1.8 55.1 ± 4.4 55.0 ± 4.3 After 71.9 ± 6.6 78.3 ± 6.0 83.7 ± 6.6 79.3 ± 3.5 82.5 ± 2.1 84.0 ± 1.4 53.6 ± 4.1 53.6 ± 4.0 30–39 Before 76.3 ± 7.3 83.3 ± 7.5 88.7 ± 7.0 88.5 ± 6.7 90.7 ± 5.3 92.4 ± 5.3 54.3 ± 4.1 53.9 ± 4.3 After 74.7 ± 7.2 81.0 ± 7.5 86.6 ± 6.5 86.2 ± 5 88.6 ± 4.5 89.0 ± 3.3 53.2 ± 3.9 52.8 ± 3.7 After 54.9 ± 9.2c 74.3 ± 7.9 51.0 ± 6.9c 40–50 Before 79.9 ± 7.0 85.0 ± 8.1 91.6 ± 8.0 108.5 ± 16.2 106.5 ± 15.6 105.3 ± 16 58.2 ± 6.2 57.5 ± 6.3 40–50 Before 58.6 ± 10.7c 87.6 ± 43.6 58.2 ± 6.1c 241 After 78.0 ± 9.3 82.5 ± 7.3 89.0 ± 8.1 104 ± 15.6 104.5 ± 16.3 103.5 ± 16.3 56.6 ± 5.7 56.0 ± 5.8 After 57.8 ± 10.7c 87.5 ± 40.4 56.6 ± 5.6c a Values are mean ± standard deviation b Upper abdomen (5 cm above umbilicus), mid abdomen (at umbilicus), lower abdomen (5 cm below umbilicus) c Change in abdominal girth for the following female groups: 20- to 29-year-old group (29 women), 30- to 39-year old group (43 women), 40- to 50-year-old group (29 women) (p \ 0.05) d Change in abdominal girth for the following male groups: 20- to 29-year-old group (3 men), 30- to 39-year old group (5 men), 40- to 50-year- old group (2 men) e Change in thigh circumference for 57 women: 27 in the 20- to 29-year-old group, 18 in the 30- to 39-year-old group, and 12 in the 40- to 50-year-old group (p \ 0.05) Table 2 Change in the weight of 101 women (F) and 10 men (M)a Age (years) Abdomen (F)b (kg) Abdomen (M)d (kg) Thigh (F)e (kg) 20–29 Before 53.9 ± 9.9 64.3 ± 3.3 53.7 ± 7.6 After 53.0 ± 9.5 64.2 ± 3.0 53.2 ± 7.3 30–39 Before 56.2 ± 9.4c 74.3 ± 8.7 51.9 ± 8.0c a Values are mean ± standard deviation b Change in weight after abdominal therapy for the female groups: 20- to 29-year-old group (29 women), 30- to 39-year-old group (43 women), and 40- to 50-year-old group (29 women) c p \ 0.05 d Change in weight after abdominal therapy for the male groups: 20- to 29-year-old group (3 men), 30- to 39-year-old group (5 men), and 40- to 50-year-old group (2 men) e Change in weight after thigh therapy for 57 women: 27 in the 20- to 29-year-old-group, 18 in the 30- to 39-year-old group, and 12 in the 40- to 50-year-old group Discussion The women experienced a signiﬁcant reduction in abdominal and thigh circumference. This was not reﬂected in the male group, probably because of the group was small (n = 10). The magnitude of the reduction (*2 cm) was similar to that originally reported by Brandi et al. [1] in their prospective study of 48 women (all had thigh therapy and 14 also had abdominal treatment) who underwent carboxytherapy using the same equipment as in the current series. This comparison is valid because we also excluded all patients receiving concurrent drug or dietary treatment to avoid any confounding factors. Weight loss is not the primary objective of carboxy- therapy, which is aimed at treating localized adiposities and improving skin texture. However, women 30 to 50 years of age reported a small (*1 kg) but signiﬁcant weight loss after abdominal or thigh carboxytherapy. This supports the hypothesis that the site of CO2 action is restricted to localized tissue [1, 6]. Complications No serious complications from carboxytherapy have been reported, as evidenced in this audit. This is hardly sur- prising because CO2 is widely used in medicine as the mainstay of minimally invasive surgery. During laparo- scopic procedures, CO2 is routinely used inside body cavities to provide a superb view and access for the ever- growing list of surgical procedures. Hypercapnia, which 123