Introduction: The authors aimed to assess the histological differences between the traditional suction-assisted lipoplasty (SAL) and the more recently developed laser-assisted lipoplasty (LAL) aspirates, in a 20-case comparative study.
Patients and methods: Between March of 2011 and March of 2012, we operated on 20 healthy female patients seeking body contouring procedures of the abdomen, flanks and outer thighs, all having good to moderate skin tone and moderate to heavy adipose deposits and no previous treatment of the interested areas. After initial aspiration of a 100 mL sample of fat tissue through the SAL technique, we applied the LAL protocol, using a Lipolite device with a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, again sampling the aspirate for histological study.
Results: The analyzed samples revealed significant histological difference between the two aspirates: the adipose tissue architecture, after conducting the LAL procedure, appeared to be disrupted, consisting of deformed and ruptured fat cells surrounded by coagulation-modified collagen, small lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate, coagulated small blood vessel and intact nerves. In contrast, the cytological patterns of the adipose tissue after using the SAL technique resembled normal fat tissue structure.
Conclusions: Our study succeeded in demonstrating significant histological differences between SAL and LAL aspirates, many of which could explain certain disparities between the clinical outcomes of the two procedures.