Background. Liposuction is the most common cosmetic operation performed. To our knowledge, no report has examined patient’s attitudes and post-operative opinion, lifestyle changes, weight gain changes and satisfaction of their liposuction procedure in general and by specific site. We now report on data from a survey provided to patients from two plastic surgeons at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
Methods. Six hundred questionnaires were mailed to all patients who had liposuction surgery performed between 1999 and 2003. There were 108 undeliverable surveys and 209 completed surveys were returned (34.8% of 600 and 42.5% of 492 surveys). Data were analyzed by Chi Square and a probability value p of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results. The majority of patients (80%) of the patients were satisfied with their results. Fifty-three percent thought that their appearance was either “excellent” or “very good”. Satisfaction by site treated all had 60% or more of the responders “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their results. Weight gain was reported in 43% of the responders with 56% of them gaining between 5 to 10 pounds after six months from their surgery. Fat return was reported in 65% of the responders. The abdomen was the most common location for fat return. As a group, 79.7% would have the procedure again and 86% would recommend the procedure to family or friends. Approximately 75% of responders described their post-operative discomfort as mild to moderate with 60% indicating that their discomfort lasted less than 7 days (39.8% indicated their pain lasted longer than 7 days); 83% indicated that they only needed to use narcotics for 7 days of less. When responders are divided into groups, the great majority of patients are satisfied with the surgery and their results.
Conclusions. Despite postoperative pain, fat return, or weight gain, patients are willing to have the procedure again and recommend it to others. Those patients who are unsatisfied and are less likely to refer patients are those who have the lowest opinion of their appearance.