The rationalization of liposuction: toward a safer and more accurate technique.

Liposuction, like all surgical procedures, is subject to complications and unfavorable results. Since it is a closed procedure and departs from the usual concept of surgery, its practice is, to a large extent, based on subjective intraoperative estimation. Therefore, it is liable to errors that might have serious local and systemic consequences. In an attempt to improve the technique, the authors have designed new instruments: the "tunnel tracer" and the "guided cannulae." They provide the basis for systematizing the procedure and applying it in a more rational manner. With these instruments and the methodology described in this article, over the last three years we have obtained very satisfactory results and notable reduced morbidity. The advantages are less trauma, less risk, less hemorrhage, less effort for the surgeon, and greater precision.