Infection and bleeding are common complications of any surgery. Specific complications related to liposuction include seroma formations which is a fluid collection in the area of the liposuction, ridging which is waviness of the skin from the liposuction, unevenness, too much removal of fat, too little removal of fat, and in some very unusual situations loss of skin. There are reported cases of even death from liposuction where very large amounts of fat were removed in one operation, and the patient was not monitored. Overall, however, liposuction is a very safe procedure and is the most commonly performed cosmetic procedure. There are some other complications that are fairly unusual, and I will not include them here.
Ultrasonic liposuction fits into two categories.
No. 1 is internal ultrasonic liposuction where the liposuction tube has a probe at the end of it that emits ultrasonic waves, which cause the emulsification of fat. Emulsification of fat is similar to making fat more liquid so that it can be suctioned. This is especially helpful in liposuctioning fat that is very thick or scarred. The second way that ultrasonic technology can help with liposuction is external ultrasonic liposuction. With this method, the area to be liposuctioned an external ultrasonic probe is applied to the skin leading to internal emulsification of the fat.