Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction (UAL) Arm Contouring in Non-Post-Bariatric Patients: No Rush for Brachioplasty

BACKGROUND: A witnessed rise in patients’ requests for arm contouring reflects the parallel public’s pursuit of slimmed bodies and rapid advancement in weight reduction methods. Brachioplasty with its known complications is still the traditional method of management, but nearly all patients feel worried about the length and appearance of the scar and seek other non-excisional alternatives. The authors wanted to share their experience in arm contouring in non-post-bariatric patients using ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over 16 month period, 28 female patients complaining of arm lipodystrophy (classes IIA, IIB, III) underwent UAL contouring under general anesthesia. Preoperative and postoperative mid-arm circumferences were measured and recorded. Outcome evaluation was done by the complication incidence, patient satisfaction survey, and independent surgeon evaluation of patients' photographs. RESULTS: There were no complications in the study group. The outcome evaluation survey has shown high patient satisfaction. The outcome survey demonstrated that 85.71% of the patients were very satisfied, while 14.29 % were satisfied with the procedure and all of them recommend the procedure to others. On the other hand, the independent surgeon evaluation showed that 92.86% of the results were excellent and 7.14 % were very good. CONCLUSION: Our work has shown how versatile is the UAL in contouring a wide spectrum of arm lipodystrophy stages in non-post-bariatric patients and presents a non-excisional alternative for arm aesthetic refinements without a rush for brachioplasty with its unpleasant complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.