A patient who requests a liposuction generally dislikes what he or she sees in the mirror. Such a patient looks to plastic surgery as a way to remove certain sections of unwanted fat. The patient expects that a small incision in the skin and insertion of a long needle, cannulae, will rid the patient of at least some excess fat. Specifics about the removal process dictate how the liposuction is to be carried out.

Thanks to the popularity of cosmetic surgery, liposuction procedures have undergone repeated refinements since their introduction in 1982. Selection of the how for a liposuction generally introduces the need for a review of those refinements. The patient and doctor choose how the procedure should be performed. The patient must study carefully the pros and cons associated with each of the available liposuction methods.

When first performed on patients, the plastic surgery now called liposuction required the use of general anesthesia. Dermatologists in the U.S, found a way to offer some forms of liposuction using local anesthesia. Liposuction done with local anesthesia is called tumescent liposuction. The patient should not assume that a tumescent liposuction, one that covers fat with a saline solution, involves use of the so-called "wet method".

The tumescent liposuction, unlike traditional liposuction, can often be done in the doctor's office. For that reason, it allows the doctor to lower the costs of the cosmetic surgery. The tumescent liposuction also uses a smaller needle, and therefore produces a smaller incision. A patient can expect to heal more quickly after a tumescent liposuction.

Sometimes patients have sought the removal of fat from areas with very fibrous tissue. A doctor specializing in plastic surgery would expect added problems when seeking to draw out the fat from such tissue. Some specialists have developed a way to liquefy the fat using ultrasound. Though now refined, that original method had certain drawbacks.

Prior to the introduction of present-day refinements, the use of ultrasound introduced risks not usually associated with cosmetic surgery. Prior to introduction of the refinements, the shaking of the cannulae could cause breakage. Shattered cannulae could expose a patient's internal organs to potentially harmful objects.

The current liposuction that makes use of ultrasound has managed to remove the threat of cannulae breakage. It offers the patient a safe procedure, assuming that it is done by a competent specialist. A competent specialist avoids removing too much fat, thus giving the patient an area of lumpy skin. A competent surgeon also makes every effort to remove the fat without damaging any blood vessels or connective tissue. The competent surgeon arranges for replenishment of any fluids removed along with the body fat.