Barton Fritz E, Dauwe Phillip B, Stone Tara, Newman Elizabeth
Dallas, Texas.
From the Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016 Oct;138(4):624e-629e. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002540.
Nonsurgical fat reduction has become extremely popular among patients; however, a reliable method of measuring its efficacy has not been established.
Ultrasound measurement of human female abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness was carried out on five volunteers. Forty-seven measurements were performed using a GE Venue 40 diagnostic ultrasound device with a 12-MHz transducer. Transducer pressure measurements were recorded simultaneously according to the protocol described by Toomey et al..
Reproducible measurements of abdomen subcutaneous fat could be consistently achieved with a margin of error (95 percent CI) of ±0.558 mm.
Using a protocol with a transducer pressure less than 1 N (Toomey protocol) allows accurate and reliable measurement of subcutaneous fat. The authors further conclude that such a protocol is practically reproducible in the clinical setting and should be the standard for evaluating the results of nonsurgical fat removal, particularly in the abdomen.
CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic, IV.
