Ultimate Body Contouring with Ex-Vivo Liposuction

Why is Ex-Vivo liposuction better?

The greatest advantage of ex-vivo liposuction as compared to in-vivo is maximized safety and efficiency. Because it liposuctions the fat from outside the body, the patient is protected from the typical complications of liposuction. These include the potential trauma caused by the aggressive sawing motion of the cannula inside the body when collecting the fat. In addition to safety, ex-vivo liposuction is more efficient in time and harvest, while improving the quality of the fat harvest.

Benefits

Ex-vivo (outside the body) liposuction provides several advantages to patients undergoing excisional surgery to achieve their body contouring results. These advantages offer both safety and efficacy to patients undergoing total body transformations.

Ex- Vivo Liposuction Saves time

Since the excised tissues can be liposuction while repairing the defects, ex-vivo liposuction saves lots of time. The advantages to this technique is protecting the patient, as when performing excision of many areas a lengthy operation can be harmful to the patient’s safety. Ideally, operative time would be limited to less than six hours in an outpatient setting. Ex-vivo liposuction can help save up to two hours of this time in extensive procedures like a full body lift. 

Ex-vivo liposuction saves operative time since any excised tissues can be liposuctioned simultaneously while the excised defects are repaired. When performing procedures on multiple areas, such as a total body lift, lengthy operations can be harmful to patient safety. When harvesting fat from within the body, it is important to be cautiously slow to prevent causing excess trauma within the body, adding time to the entire procedure. Ideally, procedures are limited to 6 hours to prevent complications, and ex-vivo liposuction can save up to 2 hours of surgical time for such length operations. 

Ex-vivo Liposuction is safer

It is safer because the process of liposuction can cause unintentional harm to vital structures. When performing the act of liposuction with the back and forth motion of the cannula, the lower back and flanks can experience unnecessary trauma that can be avoided by removing the fat in an ex-vivo manner following excision of the tissues. This is especially true when performing liposuction of areas that possess a higher density of connective tissues. Specifically, the lower back and flanks are an area that keeps superficial, mid, and deep fat that is laden with connective tissues.

Ex-vivo Liposuction Maximizes Fat Harvest

The procedure maximizes fat harvest by allocating more time to harvest the fat. When in-vivo liposuction is being performed during the excision of tissues, the time for gathering the fat may be limited by the scope of surgical time required to complete the surgery. Thus, the luxury of time for maximal fat removal may not be available during a surgical procedure. Furthermore, maximal fat removal volume is not feasible with in-vivo liposuction as it is with ex-vivo liposuction, where more aggressive fat removal may be performed without having to worry about potentially harming the patient through this action. Maximized fat harvest may prove beneficial to patients undergoing procedures in which this fat is being transferred to other parts of the body, allowing for more material to be worked with.

Ex-vivo Liposuction Provides Improved Quality

The fat harvested via liposuction outside the body is relatively cleaner and safer than the fat harvested through traditional liposuction. This fat is less blood-tinged following ex-vivo versus in-vivo liposuction, which is understood to possess pro-inflammatory blood products that can compromise fat graft take. This is because when you liposuction the fat in-vivo, there are actively circulating blood cells that can flow into the harvested fat. The required step to processing then is that the fat must be washed with antibiotic irrigation to remove pro-inflammatory blood products before injection to prevent these possible complications. Conversely, ex-vivo fat has no blood flow as it has been removed off of the patient, rendering the process smoother and risk free in comparison.

Am I a good candidate?

Anyone who is looking to undergo liposuction can benefit from the utilization of ex-vivo liposuction. Specifically, ex-vivo offers benefits for lengthy surgeries by minimizing fat harvest within the body, or surgeries in areas with lots of connective tissues like the lower back and flanks regions.

If you are interested in receiving liposuction, or even just curious if the procedure may be right for you, feel free to call us at (310) 273-3007 with any questions you have. We will be happy to assist you and provide guidance to various treatment options, whether it concerns eyebrow divots or any procedure you are considering!