5 Litre Safe Aspirate Limit
International surgical safety threshold capping total fat and fluid aspirate at 4 to 5 litres in a single session (or 4% to 5% of body weight) to prevent dangerous fluid shifts and anaemia.
Adipose Tissue (Subcutaneous vs Visceral Fat)
Subcutaneous fat sits directly beneath the skin above the muscle wall and can be suctioned with a cannula; visceral fat sits deep around the internal organs behind the abdominal muscle wall and can only be reduced through weight loss.
Body Mass Index (BMI) Threshold
Clinical screening metric used by Irish plastic surgeons, most of whom restrict elective liposuction to patients with a BMI below 30 to 32 where skin elasticity is good and anaesthetic risk is low.
Cannula (Microaire / Mercedes Tip)
Blunt-tipped hollow stainless-steel tube (typically 2.5 mm to 4 mm in diameter) with side ports near the tip, passed in a criss-cross fan pattern through tiny keyhole incisions to aspirate fat.
Compression Garment (Stage 1 & Stage 2)
Firm medical elastic bodysuit, vest or chin strap worn day and night for the first 3 weeks and part-time to week 6 to collapse the microscopic tunnels left in the fat layer and help skin retract.
Contour Irregularity (Waviness / Rippling)
Surface unevenness or shallow dimpling that can appear if fat is suctioned too close to the dermis or if loose overlying skin fails to shrink evenly over the reduced fat pad.
Fibrous Septae
The honeycomb network of connective tissue strands carrying tiny blood vessels and nerves between the deep fascia and the skin, which stays intact during liposuction and contracts as it heals.
Klein Tumescent Solution
Warmed sterile saline mixed with diluted local anaesthetic (lidocaine) and adrenaline (epinephrine) infiltrated into the fat pad before suctioning to numb the area and shrink capillaries.
Lipoedema
A chronic, symmetrical adipose tissue condition affecting mainly women's legs, hips and upper arms with tender, easy-bruising fat deposits that do not respond to diet and require lymph-sparing liposuction.
Lymph-Sparing Water-Assisted Liposuction (WAL)
Specialist technique using a fan-shaped pulse of tumescent fluid along the longitudinal axis of the limb to dislodge fat cells gently while protecting fragile lymphatic vessels.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)
Gentle hands-on post-operative massage started 5 to 10 days after liposuction to move trapped interstitial fluid toward the lymph nodes and soften early post-surgical induration.
Power-Assisted Liposuction (PAL)
Mechanical handpiece whose cannula tip reciprocates rapidly by a few millimetres back and forth, breaking up dense fibrous fat in the male chest, back and flanks with less tissue trauma.
Skin Retraction (Elastic Recoil)
The capacity of the overlying dermis to shrink and tighten onto the slimmer contour after fat removal, which depends on skin thickness, age, sun damage and absence of stretch marks.
Submental Liposuction
Targeted micro-cannula suctioning through a 3 mm pinhole beneath the chin crease to remove a stubborn double-chin fat pad and sharpen the cervicomental jawline angle.
VASER (Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction)
Third-generation probe system that emits 36 kHz ultrasound waves inside the tumescent fluid to emulsify fat cells loose from fibrous tissue before gentle aspiration.