PureLipo™ Comparison Chart

  Traditional Liposuction PureLipo™ Tumescent Liposuction
Anesthesia Uses general anesthesia or heavy IV sedation. Patient is unconscious during the procedure. General anesthesia is associated with serious risks and complications including death, blood clot and prolonged healing time. Local "tumescent" anesthesia is used along with mild oral sedation. The patient is awake, alert and able to change positions and cooperate during the procedure to facilitate body sculpting for optimal results.
Pain Often moderate to severe post procedure pain for 1-2 weeks that may require the extended use of prescription pain medication. Painless to mild or minimal discomfort during procedure with very mild recovery discomfort that is most often treated with ibuprofen or Tylenol.
Equipment/Instruments Uses much larger suction cannula attached to a powerful suction device to remove fat cells. Uses very small cannulas attached to a syringe to create gentle suction through vacuum pressure for fat cell removal.
Blood Loss Procedure can create some significant tissue trauma with blood loss that may even require transfusion as well as collateral damage to lymphatics and nerves. No significant blood loss due to the nature of the PureLipo technique with its smaller cannulas, specially formulated tumescent solution and its comparatively gentle nature.
Procedure Time With the use of the powerful suction, large volumes can be removed. However the powered suction makes precision difficult. The procedure is often completed in under an hour. Using small instruments and gentle suction the physician is able to sculpt the body into the desired shape with more precision. The procedure time is most often 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
Recovery Long recovery time with as much as 1-2 weeks of work time lost. Patients are often unable to return to full normal activities for many weeks. The significant reduction in physical activity results in an increased risk of developing a dangerous blood clot. Much quicker and easier recovery. Patients are expected to be back to near-normal activities within 48 hours and the mild post-procedure discomfort is resolved in 7-10 days. Most return to work within 2 days.
Scars Depending on the size of the incision sites, scars can be quite visible and permanent or result in very extended healing time. Very small punctures that do not require sutures. Very often sites are not noticeable within a couple of months. Many patients cannot identify the sites within a year.
Bruising The use of larger instruments and aggressive, powerful suction without the benefit of tumescent solution may result in moderate to very severe bruising. Due to the use of smaller, more gentle instruments and suction, as well as tumescent solution, bruising is minimal to mild. However, everybody's tissue reacts differently to the procedure, and some will have moderate bruising which resolves over 1-2 weeks and is not associated with increased pain.

Risks Complications are much more frequent and may include, among others, death, anesthesia reactions, infection, blood clots, pulmonary embolus, severe bruising, severe swelling and unwanted skin dimpling and asymmetries. Very well documented extremely low rate of complications with the tumescent technique can be found in the medical literature with no deaths ever reported using a purely tumescent procedure. Wound infections are very rare due to the lack of sutures and the antibacterial nature of the tumescent solution.
Results Larger instruments and more powerful suction can lead to higher risk of shape and contour irregularities. Smoother and usually more "sculpted" results. Most patients see improved skin tightening over the treated areas as a direct result of the additional time spent during the procedure stimulating the skin with the small cannulas.
Where Performed Most often performed in hospital or surgery center locations. Performed in an office setting.
Cost The cost is higher due to the need for anesthesia, monitoring and specialty surgery center or operating room space. Generally thousands less than traditional liposuction.