Abdominoplasty and/or liposuction offer effective techniques for abdominal contouring to meet the needs of a range of cosmetic surgery patients, depending on the extent of their localized adiposity and skin flaccidity. While conventional abdominoplasty can provide excellent cosmetic results, it is also associated with a fairly high rate of serious wound complications, and there remains a sizeable subgroup of patients seeking body contouring for excess fat accompanied by mild skin laxity who may not benefit sufficiently from liposuction alone.

Recognizing these limitations, cosmetic surgeon Peter Lisborg, M.D., medical director, Privatklinik Lisborg & Partner, Klagenfurt, Austria, has been performing alternate procedures for abdominal contouring. When abdominoplasty is indicated, he operates with a modified Avelar technique that avoids wide undermining of the abdominal flap and reduces or eliminates the serious complications associated with traditional abdominoplasty. Liposuction combined with radiofrequency treatment fills the gap for patients who need some skin tightening in addition to fat removal, and as an added benefit, this combination has been associated with less post-treatment morbidity compared with liposuction alone, Dr. Lisborg says.

Dr. Lisborg says he has been collecting standard outcomes data for analyses to confirm his clinical impressions about the efficacy and safety of these alternate abdominal contouring techniques. In addition, he has been performing studies using laser Doppler flowmetry to establish a scientific basis for the improved safety profiles.