Blood loss during suction-assisted lipectomy with large volumes of dilute adrenaline.

The amount of blood lost during liposuction with the "dry" or classic "wet" techniques has been a cause for concern. In the present study 26 consecutive patients who underwent syringe-assisted liposuction with the "superwet" or "tumescent" technique had their blood loss recorded prospectively. The mean (SD) volume aspirated was 2448 (1368) ml and the mean (SD) drop in haemoglobin concentration was 11 (7) g/l. The haemoglobin concentration was measured in both the fluid and the fat fraction of the aspirate, and the mean (SD) amount of whole blood was 16.5 (9.3) ml/litre of aspirate. The present study shows that blood loss is considerably reduced when the "super-wet" or "tumescent" technique is used, compared with the reported amount lost by authors who used the "dry" or classic "wet" techniques.