Saturday, October 24, 2009
15975

Superficial Power-Assisted Liposuction for the Treatment of Axillary Osmidrosis : Clinical Experience of 412 Cases

Chi Ho Lee, PhD

Various types of surgical methods for the treatment of the axillary osmidrosis have been reported. The purpose of this study was to introduce a new surgical procedure using power-assisted liposuction for axillary osmidrosis and to evaluate its long term outcome. From March 2003 to June 2008, a total of 412 patients underwent surgery for bilateral axillary osmidrosis using superficial power-assisted liposuction. The mean age was 25.4years and follow up period was 24.1months. The results of malodour elimination were graded into 4 categories: poor, fair, good and excellent. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was applied to the patients asserting a recurrence (fair and poor grade) at 6 months postoperatively. 377 patients (91.5%) showed good to excellent results. Recurrence of odour occured in 15 patients (3.6 %) and the mean VAS of fair and poor grade were 2.21 and 3.27 respectively. Only 1.8% of patients experienced wound problems (hematoma, infection and skin loss) except for minor complications such as temporary hyperpigmentation and epidermal sloughing. In conclusion, superficial power-assisted liposuction offers advantages such as a low recurrence rate, high satisfaction rate, short operation time, rapid recovery and fewer complications. The author maintains this procedure is a safe and effective method for the treatment of axillary osmidrosis.